Shadows
by Dragon Star Empress
Summary: Brave Police J-Decker While being trained to run a deep sea submersible Kate finds what she thinks is just an unusual computer chip, when she takes it home with her she finds out it is much more. KagerouXOC
1. Chapter 1

This should be updated fairly regularly for a while, but since only the first episode of Brave Police J-Decker has been subbed in English Kagerou will be the only character in the story from the show until I can translate enough of his episodes to figure out what was going on.

If anyone reads this who understands Japanese and could tell me exactly what was going on in the episodes that Kagerou was in and would be willing to help me, I would greatly appreciate it.

Also for a sneak peek at a future scene take the spaces out and go here http :// ridel. deviant art . com / art/ No-more-bad-dreams- 111781592 to see an amazing picture done for me by Ridel

* * *

Kate's heart started pounding as she climbed into the deep sea submersible, she had been in it a few times, but this would be her first time running it and that left her feeling a little nervous.

"Relax Kate, you'll do fine and I'll be here to take over if anything does go wrong." Dr. Bale said as he climbed in.

"Sure, relax, I'm just going to be running a sub at depths that could make the whole thing implode if there's even the tiniest leak." Kate replied.

"That's why we check it for any damage or weaknesses every time we use it, you haven't been this nervous since the first time you went down."

"I haven't been responsible for controlling this thing, what if I bump it into something, what if I do something wrong?" Kate asked.

"You'll do fine. Now take us down." Dr. bale told her after sealing the hatch.

"I hope you're right." Kate replied as she slowly lowered the sub towards the ocean floor.

-----

When they reached the bottom Dr. Bale had Kate maneuver the sub around different areas then started having her use the subs arms to pick up different items off of the sea floor.

"See, you're doing just fine. Now how about you take us out over that trench." he said pointing to a large crack in the ocean floor.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kate asked

"Don't worry, you can do this." Dr. Bale reassured her.

"Okay." Kate replied as she moved out over the trench and tried to keep her hands from shaking as the lights lit it up but showed no sign of the bottom.

Just as they were heading out of the trench Kate noticed something reflecting the light from the subs lights and pointed to the side of the trench, "What is that, on the ledge over there?" she asked.

"I don't know, why don't you take a closer look." Dr. Bale suggested.

As Kate carefully moved the sub closer they could see that it was something flat and rectangular with a gold metallic look to it.

"Why don't you grab it." Dr. Bale suggested.

"Maybe you should, I haven't had as much experience with the arm and if I drop it here it'll be lost to the bottom of this trench." Kate replied.

"You need the practice, anyways it looks like it's probably just a piece of modern junk, I doubt it would be any great loss if you drop it." he told her as he took the sub's controls.

Kate carefully moved the sub's clamp like hands out and gently picked the thing up and moved it into the subs collection basket.

"See, I knew you could do it. It won't be long until you're helping bring stuff up from ancient ship wrecks." Dr. Bale told her.

"I hope you're right." Kate replied as the sub headed towards the surface.

-------

When they got back to the boat Dr. Bale took out the thing they had found and looked at it. "Yep, just a piece of modern junk, looks like some type of computer chip or something. Might as well just throw it back, let someone find it in a few hundred years, maybe it'll be worth something then." he said walking towards the edge of the boat to drop it.

"Wait, like you said its junk no reason to be polluting the ocean with it and it is kind of pretty, it would make a good souvenir from my first time piloting the sub." Kate said.

"True." Dr. Bale replied handing the computer chip to Kate.

-----------

When Kate got home that evening she pulled the chip out of the bag she had put it in and washed the algae off and dried it. "It really is a pretty souvenir, don't you think?" she said setting it on top of the computer in her room and then turning to pet her gray tiger striped cat that was sitting on her bed watching her.

-----------------------------------------

A few days later Kate was woken just before sunrise by the sound of someone knocking at her door.

Groggily putting on her bathrobe she made her way to the front door while complaining to her self about people waking her up early on the weekend. When she looked out the peephole she gasped, quickly opening the door and pulled the man who had been outside into the house. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"No hi how are you doing, are you healthy, are you in trouble, just what are you doing here?" he asked sounding hurt.

"I can see how you're doing, you look filthy, you stink and when are you not in trouble Daniel?" Kate replied.

"Aw come on, you're not being a very nice big sister." Daniel replied.

"Yes I am, I'm worrying about the cops catching you here." Kate replied.

"Kate it's been well over a year, it's not like they're still watching your house for me or anything. I was just passing through and thought I would stop by and maybe get a shower before I leave town and try to get another job." Daniel told her.

"I know, I just don't like to take any chances." Kate replied.

"Don't worry, I never stay in one place very long. So think I could use your shower?" Daniel asked.

"After I get dressed." she replied before stepping back into her room to change.

--

"Now can I use your shower?" Daniel asked when she came back out.

"Yes, please do, but first where are your car keys, I assume you have a pile of dirty clothes that need to be washed out there?" Kate asked.

"Sure do." Daniel replied as he pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and tossed then to her.

"Use the bathroom in my room, the tubs bigger, take a nice long bath and soak all the dirt and grime off and I'll have your clothes washed when you get out." Kate said as she headed towards the door.

"Hey, Katie?" Daniel called from the bed room.

"What?" Kate called from where she was standing about to go out the door.

"What's this thing growing into the top of your computer?" Daniel asked.

"I don't know what does it look like?"

"Like a computer chip that's melted into the computer and has wires from inside of the computer attached to it. It kind of looks like some alien computer chip that's trying to take over your computer." Daniel replied.

Kate rolled her eyes, assuming it was just another one of his stunts to try to get her to waste her time coming back to the room and then he would stand there making fun of her for falling for it. "I don't know, but I'm sure that your stench has killed it by now, if it was alive. I'll look at it after I have your clothes in the wash." she said before stepping out the door.

----

By the time Daniel came out Kate had finished washing his clothes and had a big breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast ready.

Daniel grinned when he saw all the food, "You know you spoil me, don't you?" he asked.

"Making sure you have a decent meal once in a while isn't spoiling you, it's just trying to make sure you're as healthy as possible, I don't want you ending up sick from malnutrition." she replied, handing him a big glass of orange juice.

"So how have you been holding up?" Kate asked as she sat down at the table.

"I've been finding odd jobs, making enough money to pay for food and gas and then moving on, same as I've been doing for the last year." he told her.

"It's not fair that you have to live like this." Kate said.

"I know, but it could have been worse." Daniel replied.

"You're running from the police, living out of your car, you can't stay in the same place more than a week or so, for fear of being caught. If they do catch you you'll probably get a death sentence, how could it possibly be any worse?" Kate demanded nearly on the verge of tears.

"It could have been me who was killed, I was stupid hanging out with that gang and it didn't matter how many times you, Rachel or mom told me that, I wouldn't listen to you. When Jim was killed I realized what a mistake I had made, if I had been the one to say what we were doing was wrong and I wouldn't go along with it anymore it would have been me who ended up dead. Sooner or later I would have made that decision and Gary would have killed me too. At least this way I got out of there alive." Daniel told her.

Sighing Kate replied, "I know, you're right, but I still hate the way you have to live."

"I know, but sooner or later Gary will slip up and get caught and they'll realize it wasn't me." Daniel told her.

"Most of the evidence pointed to him this time, he just has the money to get himself out of being punished." Kate pointed out.

"His expensive lawyers won't always be abler to twist the evidence to point at someone else. You just have to believe that Katie." he told her.

"I try, it's just so hard when you show up at my door looking like you did this morning." Kate replied.

"Don't worry about me, I'm doing fine." Daniel replied before finishing off his breakfast, "Now when was the last time someone kicked your butt at Monopoly?" he asked with a grin.

"Why, you think you can beat me?" Kate replied with a challenging grin.

"Absolutely, you shall succumb to my superior business and hotel building skills in no time." Daniel replied dramatically.

"Ha, I succumb to nothing."

"Not even love?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing, not even love." Kate replied.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to supergeek17 for beta reading this chapter.

* * *

That evening after dinner, when it was dark, Daniel left. Kate let out a sad sigh as she watched his car disappear into the darkness before heading back into the house.

As Kate stepped into her room, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as though she were being watched. She glanced around the room-- she was the sole occupant. Trying to quell her nerves, she checked the windows to make sure they were locked and that the curtains were closed completely, then checked her closet and the bathroom. When she didn't find anything out of place, she dismissed her nerves and panic as groundless paranoia; it certainly wouldn't be the first time she had felt paranoid after Daniel had been there. She always worried someone would have noticed him… that police would end up watching her, waiting for him to come back.

Kate pulled her nightgown out of a dresser drawer and stepped into the bathroom, wrinkling her nose-- Daniel had left his dirty clothes laying in the corner, making the whole room reek of sweat, dirt and cheap labor. "He's twenty-two and he still can't figure out how to take care of his own dirty clothes," she lamented, shaking her head before wrapping the clothes up in the towel he had used and taking them to the washer to deal with tomorrow morning. When she got back to the bathroom, she sprayed a generous amount of Febreeze in the bathroom before shutting the door and pulling her shirt off as she walked over to the bed, where she had set her nightgown.

As she reached to unhook her bra, there was a sudden screech from the computer speakers, as though someone had turned them on and cranked the volume up too fast. Kate's head jerked in the direction of the computer and she was about to walk over to see what had caused the disturbance when a half-mechanical voice demanded, "Will you _please_ put your shirt back on and go somewhere else to change?!"

Kate grabbed her shirt, using it to conceal her chest and looked around franticly trying to figure out where the voice had come from. "Daniel, if this is some sick, twisted prank of yours, I'm going to pound you!" she bellowed. It wouldn't be the first or last time he tried to scare her, and he had been left alone for quite a while that morning-- the little jerk could have easily set something up.

"Your brother has nothing to do with this," the disembodied voice told her.

"Who are you?" Kate demanded, cautiously walking toward the computer then froze when she got close enough to see the computer chip that had been sitting on top of the computer. She rarely used the desktop computer, favoring her laptop, so she hadn't noticed what had happened to it-- Daniel hadn't been trying to trick her earlier; the computer chip looked like it had begun to melt right through the computer's casing and wires from inside of the computer had attached to it.

"My name is Kagerou," the voice replied.

"Where are you?" Kate asked.

"You're staring at me," he replied.

"The computer chip?" Kate asked in disbelief.

"Actually, it's a highly advanced artificial intelligence chip, but in the most _basic_ sense, yes," Kagerou replied, sounding almost insulted.

"So… you're like some type of advanced computer program?" Kate asked.

"No," Kagerou replied shortly. "I'm alive, I'm sentient-- I am not some program or mindless machine."

"You're really alive?" Kate repeated. "What exactly are you?"

"I'm a robot," he answered levelly.

"Where did you come from?" Kate asked.

"I… I don't know," Kagerou replied slowly. "I can't remember."

"Well, why don't I call the police?" Kate suggested, uncertain what to believe or think of the fact that she was having an actual conversation with her computer. "I'm sure if something… er, someone, like you went missing, they'll know about it and be able to get you back where you belong."

"No!" Kagerou cried. "You can't call the police."

"Well, why ever not?" Kate asked.

After a long pause he replied, "I don't know-- I just know that no one else is to find out about me."

"You don't know much of anything, do you? Well, I'm _not_ keeping you here-- you're destroying my computer," Kate snapped as she reached for the phone.

"Don't, please," Kagerou pleaded.

"I'm sorry but you're absolutely freaking me out and you haven't given me a single good reason not to call the police and let them deal with you," Kate replied without looking at the computer as she started to dial the phone.

"Fine, you want a reason? How about your brother?" Kagerou pointed out coldly.

"What about my brother?" Kate asked hesitating just before punching in the last number.

"Based on the e-mails you have saved on this computer, your brother was found guilty of murdering another man, but he managed to escape before his sentencing," Kagerou replied glibly. "He was the man who was here earlier. If you turn me over to the police, I'll tell them everything-- including his location as we speak."

"You have no proof," Kate announced, defiantly lifting her chin. "It would be my word against yours, and I'm sure the police would trust a human more than some glitching machine with a faulty memory."

The computer monitor flickered to life to show images, complete with time and date stamp, of Daniel walking through the room. "How did you get those?" Kate asked, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

"The same way I can see you-- through the webcam," Kagerou replied, his voice taking on a hard tone. "Now how about you put that phone down, sweetheart?" he asked.

Kate glared at him, or at least at the webcam sitting on top of the monitor, and hung up the phone. "What do you want from me?" she finally asked.

"Just let me stay here and don't tell any one about me," Kagerou answered. "I swear to you, I'll leave as soon as my body has been properly restored. Oh, and one more thing… please for the love of God, put your shirt back on."

Kate blushed as she turned her back to him before slipping the shirt, which she had still had clutched over her chest, back on. "What do you mean, your body restored?" she asked.

"This computer is being slowly altered to reform my body," he explained.

"Just because I set the chip on it? How is that possible?" Kate queried.

"I don't know," he admitted. "All I know is that that seems to be what is happening."

"Do you have any idea why you're having such a hard time remembering things?" Kate asked.

"No… but according to the date on your computer, I was inactive for seven years, so it could be from lack of an energy source for so long," Kagerou mused. "Any unnecessary systems would have been shut down, including less essential memory information, and those systems just haven't come back online yet. Consider it a mild case of amnesia, if you will-- I can remember bits and pieces from before, but nothing seems to connect or make sense."

"Are you sure I shouldn't just call the police?" Kate suggested. "Maybe they would be able to find out where you came from."

"No," Kagerou flatly denied. "I don't know why, but I feel as though no one is to know about me, especially the police or any other form of law enforcement. It's as though my life may have been in danger from someone who was involved with the police." His disembodied voice took on an almost pleading tone. "Please… just wait and see if my memories come back. I swear, I'll explain everything in full then and not a moment later; just let me stay here until my body has been restored."

"Fine," Kate agreed hardly, walking over to him. "But you're sure not staying in my room." So announcing, she disconnected the monitor, keyboard and mouse from the computer, then stopped when she found that the connection to the webcam had merged with the computer so it couldn't be removed.

"Stop disconnecting things!" Kagerou demanded, a nervous edge in his voice. "And don't touch the webcam-- that's the only way I can see."

"Hey, it doesn't even look like I could remove it if I wanted to," Kate replied as she reached to unplug the computer.

"What are you doing!?" Kagerou demanded. "Don't unplug that-- it's my only energy source!"

"Look, I told you: you're not staying in my room," Kate repeated. "If I unplug this, will it shut you down?"

"Not immediately-- I'll be able to stay online for a little while without it… more than long enough to send the video of your brother to the police if you don't plug it back in.," he replied threateningly.

"Fine-- I'll plug you back in, just in the living room," Kate conceded before unplugging the computer and carrying it to the living room, plugging it back in at the end of the couch. "There-- is that good enough for you?"

"Yes, thank you," Kagerou replied, the gratitude in his voice apparently genuine.

"You're welcome, and good night," Kate said before heading back into her room, wondering what on earth she had gotten herself into.


	3. Chapter 3

Wow, I didn't realize how far behind I was on updating this here, I've had chapters 3 and 4 up on Deviantart for quite a while, so if it ever seems like it's been too long between updates check there, I have it set as my home page. I also have some Brave Police fanart and links to all of the episodes currently available with Subtitles listed in my journal there.

Thanks to Supergeek17 for beta reading for me.

* * *

It took time, but over the next month Kate got use to having a talking computer sitting in her living room. Within a few days, the AI chip had completely disappeared inside of the computer and although Kagerou had told her things were still "changing," those changes were nothing she could see. She often wondered if she was losing her mind, considering most of her evenings were spent watching movies with and talking to what looked like a normal computer; in all honesty, though, she had come to enjoy having someone around to talk to and was glad he had convinced her to let him stay.

As she came in from work that evening, Kagerou automatically asked, "Did you bring us something good to watch tonight?" He'd come to expect Kate to announce her most recent Blockbuster selection upon her arrival home from work, and any deviation from that pattern set off red flags for him.

"No-- I feel like watching one of my own movies tonight," she replied as she set her bags on the sofa and headed into the kitchen to make her dinner.

A few minutes later, she stepped back into the living room, carrying a TV tray with a microwave TV dinner on it. Setting the tray on the coffee table, she selected a DVD and placed it in the player.

"What are we watching?" Kagerou asked.

"Night at the Museum," Kate replied as she sat down on the couch and took up the tray again.

"We watched that just last week," Kagerou groaned. "Can't we watch something I haven't seen yet?"

"Sure, if you want to change DVDs, 'cause I'm not getting back up," Kate replied, turning to smirk at him, but stopped when she didn't see the webcam sitting on top of the computer where it normally did.

Before she could ask where in the world her webcam had gone, Kagerou replied simply, "Fine," and, like something out of a horror flick but minus the slasher music and all over creepy feel, the computer split apart and transformed into a small humanoid, skeletal-looking robot about two feet tall.

The fork slipping out of her hand and clattering to the tray, Kate stared at him as he turned to grin at her with an amazingly humanoid face, his emerald green eyes seeming to dance with joy at the fact that he had startled her so badly. "H-How did you do that? How long have you been able to do that?" she gasped, pointing at his small body.

"Innate programming and since sometime last night, respectively," Kagerou explained flippantly.

"Why didn't you tell me this?" Kate demanded.

"I thought it would be more fun to wait until you made some smart comment about me not being able to move around… and I was absolutely right-- that was quite entertaining," he told her smugly as he started looking through her collection of DVD's.

"So what are we watching now?" Kate asked as Kagerou swapped out the DVDs.

"Something called Transformers," Kagerou replied as he struggled to climb up and onto the couch.  
**  
**"Oh, you should like it-- you would fit right in with them," Kate said, smiling. "There's even a short, crack headed one just like you."

--------**  
**

When Kate got up the next morning, she wandered into the kitchen and found a still-humanoid Kagerou curled up, asleep, on top of a pile of aluminum cans she had been planning to take to the recycling plant on her way to work. After watching him, puzzled, for a moment, Kate knelt down and rested her hand on his arm; when his eyes lit up, indicating he was awake, she asked, "What are you doing sleeping on a pile of cans?"

"Trying to speed up the restoration of my body," he replied, sitting up.

Kate couldn't hold back a slight laugh as he sat up-- about two dozen cans stuck all over his side and at every conceivable angle. Cans melted into him anywhere his body had been touching them. "You look absolutely ridiculous," she giggled.

"Yeah, well, when these finish being absorbed, I'll look a lot better," he replied defensively as Kate stood.

"Whatever you say, Can-Bot," she giggled, dodging a can as Kagerou chucked it at her legs with a slight growl.

"Okay, okay, maybe Can-Bot isn't such a good name… how about Aluminum Man?" she suggested, dodging another can. "Or Captain Tin Can?" She ducked behind the table before he could throw another can.

"Stop making fun of me! At least I'm not hiding behind furniture because I'm afraid of a couple empty cans!" Kagerou demanded, his arm cocked back to throw another Dr. Pepper can if Kate dared to emerge.

"Awww, but it's so much fun," Kate mock-whined, coming out from behind the table, dodging the can he threw and picking up two cans. "I got it! How about Recycle King?" She balanced the two cans on top of his head. "We can even make you a little crown out of cans! How long would I have to hold these here to get them to start to be absorbed?"

"About half an hour," Kagerou replied, ducking away from and behind her.

"Too bad-- I have to get ready for work, but maybe we can make you a crown when I get home," she said with a shrug, walking toward the door. She gasped as she felt the can Kagerou had been holding hit her square on the rear end. "You little brat-- this means war!" She retaliated by throwing the two cans she still held at him, which he easily dodged and threw back at her.

By the time Kate was ready to leave for work, there were cans covering the kitchen and living room. "Try to get all these cans cleaned up before I get home," she told Kagerou as she was about to go out the door.

"Why?" Kagerou replied incredulously. "I'm not the only one who made the mess."

"One, because you threw the first can," Kate replied smoothly, "and two, you get to sit around the house all day doing next to nothing while I have to work. Why don't you see how many of them you can get stuck to yourself at once? Maybe you'll look less like a mechanical skeleton by the time I get home."

"You started it by calling me names," Kagerou retorted.

"Well, I can't call you an annoying possessed computer anymore-- now you just look like something that climbed out of a pile of recycling," Kate teased before shutting the door as a Pepsi can came flying at her.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to supergeek17 for beta reading

* * *

When Kate got home that evening to a can-free house, she carried a bag of groceries in and set them on the kitchen counter. "Kagerou?" she called when she didn't see him. "Where is he hiding, Becky?" she asked the golden Maine coon standing by her feet, purring.

Just as she started to kneel down to pick up the cat, there was an earsplitting screech and something flew at her head. She ducked down out of instinct and snatched Becky off the tile floor, backing away as a mechanical bird landed on the Formica counter next to where she had been standing. Kate stood in the doorway staring at the bird, her heart pounding as she clung to a struggling-to-get-away Becky. Suddenly the bird started laughing at her. "K-Kagerou?" she asked in shock and disbelief.

"I'd advise you to let the cat go-- you're frightening her," he replied as he transformed.

Kate set the struggling cat down, and Becky tore off for the safety of the laundry room. Meanwhile, Kate stared at Kagerou for a moment, amazed at the changes he'd undergone in a mere nine hours-- his outermost chassis had finally developed, turning his body from slate grey to a rich deep turquoise; even his face was slightly different, with a piece of metal over one eye with a glowing red disk on it. "What happened to your eye?" she asked softly.

"It's an advanced scanning system," Kagerou explained. "I can already scan for a great deal of things without it, but it makes it possible to detect more sensitive things, and it makes the regular scanners more finely tuned."

"Are you stuck with it over your eye like that all the time?" Kate asked.

"No," he replied as it retracted up into his helmet.

"Good, you look better without it." Kate replied. "It's amazing how much you changed in just one-- day." She finished the statement sounding slightly distracted and arching an eyebrow.

"The internal workings are much more complicated-- the armor is simple enough it doesn't take as long to restore," Kagerou explained then asking none too tactfully, "Now what's with the eyebrow?"

"Nothing," Kate dismissed.

"Sure, you always stop in the middle of a sentence and arch your eyebrow like that," he retorted. "What was that about?"

"Just forget about it," Kate told him.

"Why?" Kagerou queried.

"Because I can't think of any possible way to ask about it politely," Kate replied with an annoyed edge to her voice.

"Oh please-- you have no problem calling me names and now all of a sudden you're worried about being polite," Kagerou deadpanned, the scanner slipping down over his eye.

"This is different," Kate replied.

"I can see that-- you seem to find whatever this is about rather embarrassing," Kagerou said, an amused expression on his face.

"Okay, I officially hate that thing-- how can you tell what I'm feeling with it?" Kate queried, pointing to Kagerou's scanner.

"It can read all kinds of things-- hormone levels, body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and I instinctively understand what it all means." Kagerou explained casually. "Now quit trying to change the subject: what could be so embarrassing about me?"

Kate considered refusing again, but decided it wasn't worth the frustration. "Fine, you asked for it: what the heck is up with the windows on your crotch?" she asked.

"Oh, that," Kagerou replied smoothly, before taking a step back and transforming into a jet.

"Okay, that's just wrong on so, so many levels," Kate announced. "If you ever get big enough to transport humans, I am never going anywhere with you when you're a jet."

"Yeah, well I didn't design this body," Kagerou replied as he assumed his robot form again. "I'm quite certain some human did, and it's not like there's anything in there like a human would have."

"It's still just not right," Kate replied dismissively. "So you turn into a bird and a jet and that's it?"

"One more," he replied, then transformed into a car. The small, sleek vehicle took a flying leap off the counter, landed on the floor and raced around the kitchen table.

"Now _that_, I'd let you give me a ride in-- you make a good-looking car," Kate told him with a laugh.

"Thanks," Kagerou said before racing out of the room.

---------------------

Kate had just finished her dinner and was washing the dishes when Kagerou came zipping through the kitchen in car mode with a ribbon trailing out of his trunk and Becky racing after him. He zipped under the table then transformed to bird mode just before Becky caught up with him. Becky jumped up onto the table and chased after him as he flew overhead. Just as he was landing on the floor and returning to vehicle mode, Becky bumped a large unopened two liter of Pepsi, sending it tumbling end over end onto the floor. It hit the tile hard and exploded, sending the contents spraying everywhere.

Kate gasped as she was soaked, Becky shot out of the room and Kagerou froze where he was on the floor, then returned to robot mode. Kate grabbed a dish towel and dropped to her knees and started toweling Kagerou off. "Are you alright? Will this hurt you?" she asked worriedly as she dried his face and eyes.

"No, the liquid wont hurt me," Kagerou reassured as she dried his head. "Any systems that might be affected by liquid are completely waterproofed."

"Thank goodness," Kate sighed. "So even if you were mostly submerged in water, it wouldn't hurt you?"

"No," Kagerou replied, an eye ridge arching microscopically.

"Good," Kate said self-satisfactorily as she stood, the dripping dish towel in one hand.

"What are you doing?" Kagerou asked.

"There's no way I'm going to get all of this Pepsi off with just a dish towel, so you're going to take a bath instead. Just stay here for a minute," Kate told him as she left the kitchen and headed for her room to start filling the bathtub.

When Kate came back for Kagerou, he had disappeared completely, the only evidence he'd been there at all was a small puddle of Pepsi where he once stood. "I thought I told you to stay here," she called as she started looking for him.

When she finally found him a few minutes later, he was sitting behind the couch, trying desperately to wipe the soda off with the towel. "It's not going to work-- there's too much soda on you," Kate told him gently as she picked him up and started to carry him towards the bathroom.

"Yes it will! Let me go," Kagerou demanded as he tried to wiggle out of her arms.

"Trust me, Kagerou-- as much pop as you have on you, it'll be a lot faster just to wash it off," Kate replied as she stepped into the bathroom.

"No-- I'm not getting in there!" Kagerou snapped, then suddenly transformed to car mode, causing Kate to drop him. As soon as his wheels hit the ground, he tore out of the room.

"Kagerou, get back here-- you're tracking Pepsi all over the house," Kate called as she raced after him.

She spent the next several minutes chasing him around the living room and kitchen before bringing the chase back into her room and finally cornering him. As soon as he was inside, she shut the door then dropped onto the floor to look under the bed, his newest hiding place. "Alright, what in the world is wrong? Why don't you want a bath to get all that sticky pop off of you?" Kate asked, beginning to worry a little about his reaction; on the other hand though, she also remembered times when she had been left home to baby-sit Daniel. He had acted the same way about baths and had later admitted he only fought her because he didn't like her telling him what to do and was just being stubborn.

"I can get myself clean," Kagerou announced stubbornly. "I don't need a bath."

"Kage, honey," Kate tried again, trying not to lose her patience, "please come out from under there. You've transformed so many times that the Pepsi is probably all gummed up in your joints and stuff; it would be a really good idea to try soaking it out."

"No, and stop talking to me like I'm some stupid little kid!" he snapped.

"Then stop acting like one," Kate replied, sliding her head and arms under the bed and trying to grab him.

"Just leave me alone!" Kage yelled as he tore out from under the bed.

Kate pulled herself back out from under the bed and lunged at him, finally managing to dive tackle him and quickly stepped into the bathroom. She kicked the door shut behind her and held him at her eye level. "Now you listen to me," she hissed, for a split second in the back of her mind she wondered how insane she looked standing there talking to a car. "I am wet, I am sticky, I have a Pepsi-soaked kitchen to clean up and who knows what else you've gotten soda on in the process. I am not putting up with any more of this-- you are going to get in that tub and wash off that pop or I will wash it off myself. Do you understand me?"

"No," Kagerou announced defiantly.

"Why not?" Kate demanded.

"Because you can't tell me what to do," Kagerou replied, changing to robot mode.

Kate barely managed to keep from dropping him. "Sorry-- not a good enough reason," she informed him as she tried to set him into the tub.

His feet had barely touched the water when he let out a bloodcurdling shriek and changed to bird mode, sending water splashing out of the tub in the process. Kate clung to him desperately, his back against her chest and his feet pushing on her arms. "Kagerou, this is stupid!" she yelled to be heard over his shrieks and turning in place in some strange effort to control the tiny bot in her arms. "Just wash the Pepsi off and quit being so stubborn!"

As Kate turned a complete one hundred eighty degrees, Kagerou seemed to relax for a second, then suddenly pushed against her arm with all his strength; his foot slipped, and the sharp claws cut into Kate's arm. She gasped, letting go of him, and stepped back, her foot landing in a puddle of water on the floor and slipping out from under her, sending her flailing back into the tub.

As she fell, she was suddenly very grateful to whoever had decided to put in the unusually large tub-- it was just wide enough that her head missed the back wall and simply hit the water. Her legs were over the edge of the tub and the rest of her body was submerged as she tried to find a handhold to pull herself up. Kagerou suddenly grabbed her hand, pulling her up far enough to breath as she drew her legs into the tub to kneel in it.

After Kate had caught her breath, she glared hardly at Kagerou. He stood balanced on the edge of the tub holding her cut wrist in his hands and putting pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" she snapped. "You could have killed me and why? Just because you're a stupid, stubborn little machine that doesn't like being told what to do?!"

Kagerou flinched at Kate's angry words, having never heard her swear before and looked down. "I never meant for you to get hurt-- I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Screw that! Answer the question-- what the hell is wrong with you?!" she repeated angrily.

"…I was afraid," he mumbled.

"Afraid? Afraid of what?" Kate asked, shock edging out some of the anger.

"The water," Kagerou replied, still not looking up.

Kate quirked an eyebrow. "Why didn't you just tell me that?" she asked.

"Because it's stupid," Kagerou told her with finality. "I know it's not going to hurt me, but… I'm still terrified of being in water. I don't want you to think I'm weak and stupid."

Kate reached out and laid a dripping hand on Kagerou's cheek. "I would never think you're weak or stupid for being afraid of something," she consoled. "Everyone has something they're afraid of-- it's only further proof that you really are sentient."

"But it doesn't make any sense," Kagerou protested. "How can it terrify me so badly when I know it can't hurt me?"

"Maybe it has something to do with your past," Kate mused. "I _did _find you at the bottom of the ocean, so maybe it has something to do with how you got down there. In any case, if something bothers or scares you, please tell me-- I won't think any less of you for it and it could help us avoid fights like this."

"Alright," Kagerou replied, nodding slowly.

"Good," Kate said with a gentle smile. "Now we still have to deal with that soda-- do you think it would help if a stay in here with you?"

"M-maybe," Kagerou answered, lifting his head a little. "…You wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not-- I'm already soaked anyways," she said as she helped him step down into the tub.

He stood there for a moment, waist deep in the water, with a death grip on Kate's hand and shoulder. "You okay?" Kate asked, trying to ignore the tight grip he had on her shoulder, which would probably end up with a bruise before the night was over.

"I… I think so," he mumbled, his grip loosening a little.

"Good," Kate replied softly as she pulled him around to sit in her lap, then picked up a washcloth and started cleaning his wings.

"I could do that myself," Kagerou told her, looking over his shoulder.

"Yeah, but it's probably easier for me to get to your wings and back-- then you can finish," Kate compromised.

Ten minutes later, he was completely clean. Kate wrapped him in a large fluffy green towel and gently pushed him out the door, saying, "Now get out of here so _I_ can get cleaned up." Soon afterwards, the shower started up and the remnants of the Pepsi incident were spiraling down the drain.

Another ten minutes passed before Kate stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. Glancing over at her bed, she saw Kagerou asleep next to a first aid kit. She couldn't help smiling as she slipped past him to her dresser to get a change of clothes. The dresser drawer squeaked as she opened it and she glanced behind her again to see if it had woken Kagerou; she looked just in time to see his rather red face disappear under a blanket.

Curiosity getting the better of her, she walked over and lifted the blanket far enough to see his face and noted that the red light from the scanner over his right eye wasn't reflecting back onto his face. Kate couldn't help smiling when she realized she _hadn't_ been imagining things. "I had no idea robots could blush," she informed him. "You look so cute."

"Please for the love of God put some clothes on!" Kagerou snapped, quickly pulling the blanket back over his head.

"Aw, you're such a gentleman, not wanting to see me until I'm properly dressed," Kate teased as she grabbed her clothes and headed back to the bathroom.

When she came back out, clad in a perfectly decent gown and full bathrobe, she sat on the edge of the bed and allowed Kagerou to bandage her arm. "Thank you," Kate said as she examined her arm.

"Don't thank me," Kagerou replied shortly. "It's my fault you're hurt in the first place."

"True, you could have handled the situation better," Kate conceded, "but in the end everything worked out okay and it's not like I'm hurt that badly. Don't worry about it-- just make sure you tell me if something bothers you again." Kate picked him up and carried him out to the living room.

"Okay then-- it really bothers me when you treat me like a small child," Kagerou informed her, looking up.

Kate smiled at him as she set him on the couch. "You mean like carrying you around and telling you what to do?" she asked.

"Exactly," Kagerou confirmed.

"You're so cute and little it's hard sometimes, but I'll try not to," Kate agreed as she headed to the kitchen.

When Kate got to the kitchen, she found that the Pepsi had already been cleaned up, making her attempts at the task rather pointless. She stepped back into the living room and knelt by the sofa, pulling the fleece blanket off the back to make a bed for her small robotic housemate. "Thank you for cleaning up the Pepsi, Kagerou," she said sincerely, folding the blanket so that it was both bed and bedclothes.

"It was the least I could do after all the trouble I caused," Kagerou replied.

"Well, I still appreciate you cleaning it up," Kate told him as she stood. "Good night, Kagerou."

"Good night," Kagerou replied as Kate headed to her room.

--------------

Several hours later, Kate sat up in bed like she'd been shot when she was woken by a scream coming from the living room. Heart racing, she threw on her bathrobe and ran out of her room, legs and arms pumping. Either something was wrong with Kagerou, or someone was in the house that clearly shouldn't have been.

Kate burst into the living room like a one-woman SWAT team. "Kagerou! Are you okay?" she called as the screaming died down.

Whimpering drew her attention to the couch, where she found Kagerou huddled back into the corner, the blanket draped over his head and his arms wrapped around his knees, panting and shaking.

"What happened?" Kate asked worriedly as she sat down next to him.

"I'm fine," Kagerou dismissed, his dark green optics filled with absolute terror, which matched the tone of his voice. "It was just a nightmare."

Kate gently reached out and pulled the blanket hood from Kagerou's head, turning his face to hers with her fingers. "Do you want to talk about it?" Kate asked, searching his petrified eyes.

For a second, he looked like he would refuse, the words slowly started to come out as he stared directly ahead, never once making eye contact with Kate. "I was alone somewhere-- a room that was filling with water. I was terrified, like I knew something terrible was going to happen, but I couldn't do anything to stop it… completely powerless and defenseless-- I couldn't even move.

"I… I wanted someone. I wanted someone there with me, but at the same time I was glad they weren't there because that meant they were safe… a-and yet… part of me still wanted them there, by my side. I don't know who it was-- just…someone specific. i-it was someone specific...

"Then there was horrible creaking and groaning sounds, like metal being crushed and torn and ground against itself, then there was a blinding flash of light and…" He wrapped his arms tighter around himself and choked on his words. "I knew I was going to die, all alone."

Kate couldn't think of anything to say to Kagerou to comfort him as he continued to tremble on her sofa. Some details of the nightmare seemed to be clues about how he ended up in the trench in which she'd found his AI chip; if he'd been contained in a sinking ship or something similar, once he'd reached a certain depth, the pressure would have made anything implode with an amazing amount of uncontained fury. It also explained Kagerou's fear of the water. But wanting someone he couldn't even place… that was beyond Kate's musings and--

"Why was I left behind? Why was I alone?" Kagerou softly half whimpered.

"I don't know," Kate consoled, gently stroking his head, "but you're not alone anymore." She scooped him up into her arms and, giving him a comforting hug, carried him to her room.

He glared up at her for a moment, then announced, "You're doing it again."

"What-- treating you like a little kid?" she asked.

"Yes," Kagerou replied.

"Well, too bad-- you're just going to have to put up with it for tonight because I'm not leaving you alone out there," she informed him as she laid him on the quilt and slipped between the sheets.

"Are you sure this is alright?" he asked uncertainly.

"It's fine as long as you don't move around too much when you sleep," she replied before turning off her bedside lamp. "Good night again, Kagerou."

"Good night, Kate," Kagerou whispered back as he laid down.

---

Kate woke a couple hours later, when Kagerou began fidgeting and groaning in his sleep. He was laying with his back to her, but as near as she could tell, he was still asleep-- most likely having another nightmare. Carefully shifting her weight, she laid directly behind him and wrapped an arm around him, holding him as a mother might hold her child. After a second, his small hand wrapped around her wrist and his whimpering and groaning faded, then ceased altogether, and he finally lay still in sleep.

* * *

Ridel on Deviantart did an absolutely amazing picture for me from this chapter, it can be found at the following link just remove the spaces.

http :// ridel. deviantart . com /art/No-more-bad-dreams-111781592


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to Supergeek17 for beta reading for me.

* * *

Kate groaned when her alarm clock started buzzing at 6:30; she quickly turned it off, then wrapped her arm back around Kagerou and started to fall back to sleep.

The buzzer apparently woke Kagerou, as well. "Don't you have to get up and get ready for work?" he questioned.

"Not yet," Kate mumbled drowsily. "I can hit the snooze button a few times before I actually have to get up."

"You're not going to let me go, are you?" Kagerou asked after a moment.

_Hmm_ was Kate's only reply as she tightened her arm around him; she was sleeping soundly again within seconds. When the alarm went off a second time, Kate actually turned it off and sat up. "Mornin'," she said, rubbing the remnants of sleep out of her eyes. "How are you this morning?"

"Aside from being stuck here for the last nine minutes, I'm fine," he replied, crossing his arms in mock annoyance for a moment before he relaxed and softly added, "Thanks for making me stay in here last night."

"It was the only thing I could think of," Kate admitted. "I'm really sorry that you ended up having nightmares."

"No need—it's no fault of yours," Kagerou dismissed.

"Actually, I think it is," Kate rebutted. "I think trying to get you into the water could have triggered them."

"At least I'm starting to remember things," Kagerou whispered to Kate's quilt. "I've been thinking about it for the last nine minutes, and there's no doubt in my mind-- that's what the nightmares are… some type of memory. It may not be the best way to remember things, but at least I am starting to remember, even if it is just in bits and pieces."

He paused, then looked Kate dead in the eyes as he announced, "It was the first new thing I've remembered since I woke up in your computer."

"But there has to be a better way to make you remember things," Kate replied as she stood.

"I hope so," Kagerou replied softly, slipping off the bed.

---------------------------------------------

When Kate came home from work that afternoon, she found Kagerou laying on his stomach on the floor where the sun was shining in from the window, reading a book; Becky was perched on his back. "Are you two enjoying yourselves?" Kate laughed.

"Well, Becky is—I seem to be her favorite place to sit," Kagerou replied, glancing at the clock and then at Kate. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working for a few more hours?"

"Technically speaking, yeah, I should be," Kate replied, dropping her bag on the couch, "but someone dumped something in the lunch room and mopped it up, but didn't warn anyone the blasted floor was still wet and I ended up falling hard on my wrist."

"You're hurt?" Kagerou repeated, sitting up and dumping Becky off of his back in the process.

"It's nothing serious—just sore," Kate dismissed.

Within seconds, Kagerou had his scanner lowered and was inspecting the wrist in question. "It's sprained," he announced. "Not severely, but you still need to be careful with it." Kagerou disappeared into the kitchen and came back with an ice pack. "Sit down and hold this on it."

Kate didn't question the tone in his voice as she sat and applied the icepack. "How do you know how badly it's hurt?" she asked.

"X-ray vision," he replied minimally, tapping the scanner over his eye. "I can see where the muscles have been over stretched and hurt."

"Okay then—how do you know how to treat it?" Kate pressed.

"Boredom," he answered easily. "When I was stuck to the computer, I had nothing better to do than cruise the Internet all day while you were at work. I found a medical website, and decided as long as I was going to be around humans I might as well learn about them. I probably know about as much about taking care of human injuries as any doctor does—maybe more." he explained.

"I guess I'm in good hands then," Kate teased.

"Probably," Kagerou replied as he started to untie Kate's shoes.

"I can take those off myself," Kate informed him.

"Not with that wrist," he told her. "Now lie down and keep your wrist elevated."

"Yes, sir, Doctor Kagerou, sir," Kate replied with mock seriousness as she complied.

---

A few hours later, Kate headed to the kitchen with Kagerou right on her heels. "What do you think you're doing?!" Kagerou asked incredulously as he saw her open a cabinet.

"Getting dinner—duh," Kate replied as she got a pan out of the cupboard and nearly dropped it as pain shot through her wrist.

"You're trying to hurt yourself even more," Kagerou told her tartly, catching the pan.

"Whatever," Kate replied flippantly, cradling her injured wrist to her torso and holding her other hand out for the pan. "I still have to eat, so hand it over."

"No," he denied. "You already hurt yourself trying to get the pan out, and I'll be damned if I let you hurt yourself again."

"Okay, fine," Kate answered, going over to the phone and grabbing a small tri-fold take out menu. "Wonder if that pizza place still delivers…?"

Kagerou quickly pulled the menu out of her hands. "Are you insane?!" he asked. "You just had take out four days ago. Do you know what it can do to your arteries?!"

"Forget my arteries—I'm hungry!" Kate shot back.

"No—don't forget your arteries!" Kagerou scolded, whacking her head with the menu and ripping it in half. "Hunger passes; you have to live with your arteries for the rest of your life—and by regularly consuming the _garbage_ that is take out, you increase your risk for cardiova—."

"Spare me the health lecture, Professor," Kate cut off irritably. "You think I'm better off starving?"

"I never said that," Kagerou replied, waving a finger. "What I was going to say was that I'll make you dinner."

"You don't even eat—how could you possibly know how to cook?" Kate asked.

"I've watched you enough," Kagerou replied smoothly, setting the pan on the stove, "so I'm sure I can figure it out."

"You're too short," Kate pointed out. "You'll never be able to reach anything."

"I'll be able to reach just fine," Kagerou replied as he levitated himself a few feet with the jets in his back.

"Okay, _fine," _Kate replied, crossing her arms and parking herself at the kitchen table, "but I'm staying out here to make sure you don't burn my house down."

---

Kate was pleasantly surprised to find that Kagerou was right, even for a simple grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. Even though she never would have admitted it to him, the sandwich was perfectly toasted.

---

That night Kate was woken up as Kagerou climbed on to her bed, carrying a throw pillow from the couch. "What are you doing?" she asked, although she suspected he had had another nightmare, since his scanner was down, a sure sign he wasn't at peace.

"You forgot to prop up your wrist," Kagerou told her shortly as he positioned the pillow. "It'll help with the pain and swelling if it's propped up." Kagerou snuggled in between Kate and the pillows and pulled her injured wrist over him to rest on top of the pillows.

"You had another nightmare didn't you?" Kate asked softly.

Kagerou hesitated a moment, then… "Yeah. I can leave if you—"

"No—you're welcome to stay here as long as you want," Kate gently cut him off.

"Thanks," he replied softly. "I keep complaining about you treating me like a child, and yet here I am acting like one."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Kate consoled. "Everyone gets freaked out by nightmares and wants someone else to be close to them to make them feel better. I don't think you're acting like a kid—if anything, it's refreshing that you're willing to admit something like that."

"Really?" Kagerou asked softly.

"I can't think of many people who have the guts to admit that," Kate replied, snuggling back into her blankets. "Just remember that if I ever have a nightmare, you owe me and I'm coming to you."

"Fair enough…" Kagerou agreed. "And thanks."

---

The next morning when Kate woke up, she carefully sat up, trying not to wake Kagerou. She slid out of bed and into the bathroom, picking up her hairbrush and starting to run it through her hair. She gasped loudly as a stabbing pain shot through her wrist, the brush clattering to the counter.

Between her gasp and the brush's clattering, Kagerou was awake and in the doorframe within moments. "What are you doing?" Kagerou asked.

"Brushing my hair," Kate replied as she reached for the brush again.

Before Kate could get the brush back to her hair, Kagerou had scrambled up the drawers and caught her arm. "You're not supposed to be using that wrist," he gently scolded, carefully prying the brush out of her hand.

"Well, too bad," Kate replied, trying to wrestle the brush back from him. "A little pain isn't going to kill me and I'm not going to sit around without my hair brushed—it'll be all knotted into an utter rat's nest by tomorrow otherwise."

"I'm not going to let you hurt yourself," Kagerou told her as he turned her and began carefully brushing her long hair.

"No way," Kate protested, jerking away from the small robot's touch. "I hate people messing with my hair—I'll brush it myself."

"Of course—as soon as your wrist has healed enough that it doesn't cause you pain," Kagerou told her, holding out his free hand.

Kate considered his outstretched hand for a moment. Finally giving up with a grumble, Kate turned to allow Kagerou to start running the brush through her thick hair. By the time he was done, she was surprised to find herself her enjoying it.

Once her hair was brushed and braided, Kate got dressed while Kagerou made breakfast. The pair spent the rest of the day playing games and watching movies, which would go on to become their Sunday ritual in the weeks ahead.


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks to supergeek17 for betareading

* * *

_About a month later…_

Kate came home from work grinning ear to ear, dropping her bag by the front door and walking over to the couch where Kagerou was sitting perusing a magazine. She flopped down next to him and pulled him into an excited hug.

"What are you so excited about?" Kagerou asked once she had let him go.

"I am going to Egypt!" she squealed excitedly, as if staying silent would make her implode.

"What?" Kagerou questioned incredulously. "Why?"

"The museum is getting an exhibit, including several items from King Tut's tomb," Kate explained eagerly, "and one person from each museum that the exhibit will be stopping at is supposed to go to Egypt for two weeks of lectures and training on how the items are supposed to be cared for and in-depth studies of their significance and all."

"What does this have to do with you, though?" Kagerou asked.

"Since I already specialize in care and preservation of artifacts the museum has decided to send me." She stood and started to pace the room. "I've always loved ancient Egypt more than anything, but I never really thought I'd get a chance to _go there_! The trip even includes tours of the places the artifacts came from—the pyramids, the workers' villages, even Tut's tomb itself!" She eagerly took Kagerou's shoulders and shook him excitedly. "The bloody tomb itself, Kage!"

"Yeah, great," Kagerou muttered, brushing her hands off.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked. "I thought you'd be excited for me."

"You're going to be gone for _two weeks_?" Kagerou muttered again.

"What's the problem with that?" Kate asked softly, sitting down next to him.

"What if something happens to you? What if you get hurt? What am I going to do all alone here for that long?" he asked tensely. "Have you even _considered_ any of those things?"

"I'll be fine," Kate reassured him. "People make trips like this all the time—and to even more dangerous places. Look at the relief workers in the Sudan."

She took Kagerou's chilly silence in stride as she added, "As for you, so long as you promise not to absorb it or damage it, you can use my new computer as much as you want and I'll have my laptop with me—we can email or instant message each other all the time. You can check out the library website and see if there are any books you want, and I'll get them for you. You know for a fact that I have plenty of DVDs you haven't seen yet, and you'll have Becky to keep you company. I'll try to call you at least once or twice while I'm there, too." She gently stroked his head. "You'll be fine."

"I guess you're right..." Kagerou grumbled as he slid off the couch and Kate tried to convince herself that he'd come around by the time she got on the plane and said goodbye.

---

The next two weeks seemed to fly by as Kate hammered out all the details for her trip—passport and entry visas, rounds of immunizations, a few basic Egyptian Arabic phrases to help her squeak by…—and made plans to try to fit in as much site seeing as possible. Kagerou participated in the process, helping her pick weather and culturally appropriate attire and drilling her on the proper pronunciation of _Asalamualaikum_, but pouted through the whole process.

Kate dealt with his behavior patiently.

The night before she was going to leave, Kagerou wordlessly climbed into her bed after having another nightmare. As she hugged him to soothe his fears, a niggling worry was born in the subconscious... a worry about how he would handle being alone as she realized how much she was going to miss having the little booger around.

---

"Alright—is there anything else at all that you can think of that you might need?" Kate asked as she set her suitcases by the front door.

"Aside from you staying here?" Kagerou asked levelly. "No."

Kate knelt in front of him and pulled him into a tight hug. "You'll be fine," she reassured. "As soon as I get to the hotel, I'll call you and give you the number for my room—then you can call me anytime you need to."

"And you'll email me every day, right?" Kagerou asked.

"At least once a day—maybe even more," Kate confirmed.

"Good," Kagerou replied. "Hey, Kate?"

"Yeah, Kage?" Kate asked, tucking her passport in her purse.

"There's… kinda something I wanted to tell you before you leave," Kagerou began slowly, twiddling his thumbs.

"What is it?" Kate asked.

He hesitated a moment then taking a deep breath, "Kate, I—" He was cut off as someone knocked at the door.

"That's my ride!" Kate announced, running for the door. "Let me get my bags loaded up and I'll be right back with you, Kage."

Kagerou hid in the doorway as he watched her load her things into the trunk of the car that would whisk her off to her grand and glorious Egyptian adventure. "Now what did you want to tell me?" Kate asked as she stepped back into the house to say her final goodbyes.

"That I… hope you have a great time," Kagerou said, giving her a sincere grin.

"Aww… thank you," Kate cooed, hugging him tightly. "You try to have some fun, too, okay? Just try not to burn my house down." She stood and shouldered her carry on. "Talk to you tonight, Kage!" Waving over her shoulder, she ran out to the cab.

Kagerou waved back until the cab turned the corner before crinkling his nose in disgust. He couldn't decide who he resented more—Kate for leaving, or the cab for taking her away.

---

The next fourteen days flew by for Kate, but the nights seemed to drag on forever. The first night, Cairo time, she called Kagerou and talked to him for a little while, describing the flight and the hotel with great zeal, Kagerou listening dutifully, asking questions the whole time. After an hour, they said their good nights and hung up, and Kate bedded down for the night, ready to pass out from her long day of jet hopping.

She ended up having a hard time falling asleep and only got a couple of hours of sleep, which she attributed to the first night in a new place, but the next night was the same. Just when she was on the brink of sleep, her mind wandered to her small robotic housemate and his welfare—how would he handle another nightmare without her? That and the fact that she missed him weighed heavily on her mind all night, and made it hard for her to focus on her lectures the next day.

Finally, at two AM local time on night three, she called him again. The smile evident in Kagerou's voice made her smile as well, and they chatted back and forth until she felt herself dozing off.

She slept soundly that night, and every night after that, since calling home every night before bed became as much of a ritual as their Sunday afternoons of games and movies.

Late one night, Kate couldn't help but wonder if she was getting too attached to him, and she couldn't be sure if that was a good thing or not.

The answer to those questions nagged at her off and on all trip, so Kate was quite happy when the two weeks came to a close. Of the twenty people on the trip, she was the first packed and standing in the hotel lobby at 3:30 in the morning to go home.


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks to supergeek17 for beta reading.

_A day or so later…_

As soon as the cabdriver had set her suitcases down and returned to his cab, Kate shut the door quickly and smiled. She grabbed her luggage and ran up the front path and into the house. "Kagerou I'm home!" she called as she dropped the suitcases by the front door. "Where are you? Don't I get a welcome home party or something?"

She received no answer, nor did she see Kagerou peeking out from around a corner, so Kate wandered around her house, calling his name. When she got to the kitchen, she froze. The irreparable oven that her landlord had left in the kitchen when she moved in, which turned into extra counter space with the addition of a piece of fiberglass from a friend's home improvement project, was gone. "Kagerou, get in here right now!" Kate bellowed over her shoulder. "Where the heck is the other oven?!"

Finally, Kagerou's smooth voice hit her ears, from behind her: "You know as well as I do that it didn't work, so I found a better use for it."

"Kagerou, that wasn't my oven—it belonged to the landlord!" Kate snapped, kneeling to examine where the wires connecting the plug to the missing oven were poking out of the wall. "What on earth did you do—" Kate stood and turned around, freezing and her jaw dropping open slightly. She vaguely felt her purse slip off her shoulder.

Somehow, in the two weeks she'd been gone, the knee high robot she'd left behind was now a few inches taller than her, making him about five feet eight. He offered her a cheeky grin as he caught her purse and laid it on the counter. "As I said, I found a far better use for it.

Kate continued to stare as a human-male-sized Kagerou walked around her kitchen as easily as if he did so every day. She let her eyes wander over his whole frame, wondering how her cute little robot housemate had managed to use her broken-down oven to become so… well, so ungodly _sexy_. Her eyes widened and she turned her head away, embarrassed by the thought. "You know you could have warned me you were going to do something like that," she chastised, still not looking in his direction.

"I thought it would be more fun to surprise you," Kagerou smoothly replied, perching on the counter and digging her passport out of her purse.

"Yeah well, you certainly managed to accomplish that," Kate informed him, working the passport out of his hands and tossing it in a drawer. "Oh, and I still think you would look better without that scanner over your eye."

Kagerou looked up from flipping through her digital camera photos and smirked slightly as the scanner retracted into his helmet. "What are you smirking about?" Kate asked.

"Oh, nothing," Kagerou replied smoothly as he went back to the pictures. "Happy you made it home in one piece."

---

Several hours later, at almost two in the morning, Kate was woken as the bed moved and shifted slightly. "_Nahhh_, not on the bed, Becky, she mumbled through a thick haze of sleep, turning to look over her shoulder. "Oh hi, Kagerou."

Kagerou sat, almost shyly on the edge of her bed. "Hello, Kate," he said quietly, twiddling his thumbs.

"Another nightmare?" she asked softly.

"Yeah..." he admitted. "…If I'm not little and cute, can I still get away with sleeping in here?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," Kate replied, scooting over slightly. "But I don't think I can still hold you the way I could when you were little."

"That's okay—I can hold onto you now," he said, laying down behind her and wrapping his arm around her. "…If you don't mind, that is."

Kate patted his hand reassuringly. "I don't mind at all," she answered.

---

_The next morning…_

Kate woke up slowly… and with a small, pleased grin on her face. Sometime late last night, she'd fully admitted to herself that she'd grown attached to the not-so-little-anymore booger that was Kagerou. Of course, "attached" went from letting him eat her computer for a body to sleeping in her bed when he had nightmares to suddenly realizing _damn_, he was good looking now that he was typical human male sized.

_You've lost your mind, Katherine,_ Kate scolded herself. _He's a robot—you're getting overly emotionally attached to a walking talking version of your laptop…. But he's such a handsome, attractive robot, not to mention smart, kind…_

And so the dialogue began again. Kate tried to think of something else to silence the voices. Of course, just to spite her, her mind instantly took her back to when she first saw Kagerou's body upgrade, him being able to look her in the eyes without standing on something tall, or her coming down to his level, and her sudden instinct to throw herself into his arms a la cheesy romance novel.

Was it so wrong for her to have such a want when it came to a robot? Ehh, what did it matter? She was here, healthy and happy, and that was good enough for the time being.

Content with her conclusion, Kate started to drift off again, but her mind wasn't done yet. Her eyes drifted open as she recalled something else: _Last night… when he came into my room… his scanner wasn't down like it normally would have been_. Even over the course of the two weeks she'd been gone, that was still his subconscious way of saying that not all was well with him. Did that mean that—?

Kagerou slid his hand out of hers and gently brushed it over her arm, bringing her out of her thoughts and running a finger of pleasured chills down her spine. "For looking like you're still asleep, your mind is absolutely racing. What are you thinking about?" Kagerou asked.

Kate glanced over her shoulder at him, dropping her head back to the pillow when she saw that the scanner was down over his eye. "What, you can't just read my mind with that thing?" she asked, half teasing.

"I could make a few guesses based on heart rate and such," Kagerou replied smoothly, "but I abhor guessing."

When she didn't hear Kagerou ask what she'd snorted in the bathroom to make her heart spontaneously stop, her mind started to reel—if he could tell that she was thinking, could he sense the tell-tale pheromones that screamed that she was becoming more and more attracted to him? "Just about the fact that whenever you have nightmares or are uncomfortable for any reason, that stupid scanner is always down over your eye and it wasn't when you came in here last night," she told him.

"Truthfully," Kagerou began after a brief pause, "the nightmares haven't been bothering me as much—once you've seen the exact same thing every night for over a month, you get desensitized, y'know? The truth is… I really did have a nightmare, but I really just wanted an excuse to come in here. I missed you and wanted to be close to you."

"You really missed me that much?" Kate asked softly, turning to face him and cursing her heart for racing so.

"Yes," he confirmed. "And please, Kate—" her heart started pounding double time when he called her by name—"don't panic so much about what I can read and see with this scanner." As he spoke, the scanner retracted into his helmet again; he hesitated a moment, then impulsively added, "If I'm interpreting what the scanner is picking up and what _I'm_ feeling correctly, then… I feel—"

They both jumped when the phone next to the bed started to ring. Fighting off a strong urge to take a blowtorch to the phone, Kate sat up and snatched the receiver from the charger. "Hello?" she muttered, irritated as all get out, into the mouth piece.

"K-Katie?" a woman rasped into the phone.

There was only one person in the world whom Kate allowed to call her "Katie" and live to tell the tale—"Rachel? Is that you?" Kate asked into her end of the line. "What's wrong with your voice?"

"Katie, … there was an accident at work—the whole building collapsed," Rachel gasped. The sound of debris raining down in the background confirmed her words. "Tell Mom and Daniel I love them if I don't get out of this mess alive."

Once again, Kate didn't hear Kagerou ask what she'd taken to make her heart stop on a dime, even though she could feel it happening. "Rachel, what's going on?" she asked, trying to keep her voice soothing.

"I don't know…" Rachel answered.

"Well, c-can you get out?" Kate asked, slipping out of bed and starting pace the room.

"I can't," Rachel gasped. "My leg is pinned under a damn support beam or something and it's raining debris."

"Just—just stay calm, Rachel," Kate soothed, feeling panic and bile rising up in her throat. "I'm sure rescue workers will get there soon. Where are you?"

"I don't know!" Rachel wailed, making Kate jerk the phone from her ear for a beat. "I was in my office when the floor gave out. I'm not sure how many floors I fell." Her voice softened, and bitter tears entered her voice. "I hurt so bad, Katie… I just want it to stop. Please, Katie, make it stop…"

"Just hang in there, Rachel," Kate whispered, trying not to choke on her own tears. "I'll call the police and let them know you're in there, okay?"

"O-okay," Rachel sniffled. "If I don't make it out, you'll let Mom and Daniel know I love them, right? Tell Daniel I always believed—holy shit!" Rachel was suddenly very, very silent.

"Rachel? Rachel?! What's going on?" Kate half shrieked into phone.

"There is… a freaking huge… mechanical dog… and its coming right for me," Rachel slowly announced.

Kate was quickly trying to figure out how much pain her sister would have to be in to become _that_ delusional when a third voice inadvertently joined the conversation: "It's alright—I'm with the Brave Police, and I'm going to get you out of here."

Kate sighed in relief. Admittedly, "Brave Police" was a group about which she knew very little, but based on a few news reports, she felt very comfortable that her little sister was in good hands.

"Guess I am going to make it out of here after all," Rachel chuckled into the phone. "I'll have someone call you and let you know what hospital I'm being taken to once I'm out—or I'll call you if they'll let me."

"Okay, I'll—" Kate stopped when she heard a loud rumble and Rachel scream. "Rachel? Rachel, what happened? Rachel, answer me, damnit!" Kate cried into the phone, but the line was completely dead.

Shaking and fighting back tears, Kate tried to quell the shaking in her hands long enough to dial the phone.

"Shh…" Kagerou soothed, coming over and laying a hand on her shoulder. "Just take a deep breath and try to calm yourself."

"But—but my—my sis-sister! She—" was all Kate could get out before Kagerou gently hushed her.

"I know," he whispered. "I could hear everything—super sensitive hearing."

Whimpering, Kate wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his chest. She could feel Kagerou stiffen under the touch, but slowly start to relax—at least enough to lightly wrap his arms around her shoulders.

Sniffling slightly, Kate dialed her mother, still leaning, overwhelmed, into Kagerou's chest. The call seemed to take forever to connect…

"Hello?" her mother, Roslyn, answered. Roslyn was a woman about as unbreakable as a sequoia tree; now her voice cracked and sounded warped and tear-filled.

"Mom… it's Kate," she whispered into the receiver, willing herself not to break down again.

"Oh, Kate, you still don't have cable—you haven't heard have you?" Roslyn cried.

"Yeah, I have," Kate slowly replied. "Rachel called me—"

"She called you!?" Roslyn wailed into the phone, cutting her off. "Is she alright?"

"I—I don't know," Kate stammered. "I was on the phone with her when one of the rescue workers got there, but then it sounded like something collapsed and I don't know if her phone was damaged or…" An awkward pause filled both ends of the line. "Do you want me to come over there?"

"No—I'm going to head to the hospital," Roslyn replied, her voice indicating the return of her inner strength. "I'm sure after that explosion they'll be glad to have every nurse available. Your brother will hear about this and panic, and you're the one he'll call. If he can't get a hold of anyone he'll come back to find out what's going on. I can't lose two children in one day—you have to make sure he doesn't come anywhere near here. I'll call you the second I find out anything." Without waiting for her daughter's reply, she hung up.

As soon as she hung up the phone on her end, Kate curled back into Kagerou's arms. "I know I was upset about you eating the stove without asking me first," she whispered, "but now I'm really glad you did."

"So am I," Kagerou replied simply, letting her cry herself to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

A couple of hours later, after relaying all the pertinent information to her brother and calming him down, as her mother had predicted she would do, Kate leaned weakly against Kagerou's side, overwhelmed. "You should eat something," he told her simply.

"I'm not hungry," Kate mumbled. "I just want to stay here."

"You need to eat," Kagerou replied. "Besides—do you _really_ want to be lying around in your pajamas when they call to say your sister's been found alive? It would only make it take that much longer for you to get there to see her."

"I hate how right you are sometimes," she replied, slipping out of bed.

After getting dressed and reluctantly forcing down a bowl of corn flakes, Kate curled up on the couch with Kagerou and his newest National Geographic, trying desperately not to start crying again.

"What if she's dead?" she asked Kagerou as he skimmed the magazine. Even though he seemed distracted, he truly was listening. "I can't even _imagine_ never seeing her again, never being able to talk to her again... Kagerou, I've been watching out for her ever since the day Mom brought her home from the hospital and now I can't do anything for her! I feel so helpless!"

"Just don't give up hope," Kagerou reassured. "I'm sure that she's fine and her phone was just damaged." Kagerou told her.

"It's been almost three hours," Kate hissed. "How can you sound so sure that she'll be alright?"

"Because I believe God will watch over her and bring her out of this safely," Kagerou mused, turning a page in the magazine.

"Really," Kate answered. "I didn't know you were religious or anything, although I guess I've never really asked, have I?"

"Of course—how could I not be religious?" Kagerou replied, laying aside the magazine. "I'm certain no human could have made me sentient. Built me, yes, but given me a soul? No, it has to be the work of a higher being. Surviving in that trench as long as I did? No human being helped me there, either—someone had to have been looking out for me.

"I've done the calculations, Kate—the explosion of whatever I was in should have destroyed my AI chip and even if I Idid/i survive that, there's no way I should have lasted so many years down there without my AI chip being corroded by sea salt and water. The only explanation for my survival is that a higher power, God, was looking out for me."

"But you ended up losing your memory," Kate reminded.

Kagerou paused, weighing her words. "Something bad was a part of my past, so my memories were wiped clean to give me a better future."

"What about Rachel?" Kate demanded. "What if God allowed her phone to work so she could at least say goodbye? And don't feed me the 'God works in mysterious ways' line."

"Possible, but I don't think that's the case," Kagerou answered smoothly. "She's going to be fine—no 'mysterious ways,' and I'm not just saying that to make you feel better. I truly get this feeling that she's fine and- someone is with her and taking care of her."

"Why couldn't she have just gotten out before her phone went dead?" Kate continued tartly.

"I don't know..." Kagerou admitted, "but I'm sure there is a reason for it. Just don't roll over and diiiiiiii... give up hope," Kagerou consoled.

"Easy for you to say," Kate pouted. "You've never had a sibling in mortal danger before."

Just then, the phone rang. Kate seized it and answered by the second ring. "Hello?" she asked hurriedly into the mouthpiece. She listened for a moment before hanging up and scrambling for her shoes and the key to her bike lock, while mentally cursing herself for not picking up her car from the repair shop the day before, as she raced out the door, not even bothering to tell Kagerou the good news about Rachel.

* * *

When Kate got to the hospital, her hands were shaking and her thighs were on white-hot fire as she locked her bike and ran into the ER entrance and met her mom in the waiting room; Roslyn debriefed her eldest child on the situation and explained that she was overnighting with Rachel, and that she was leaving to get an overnight bag together. "She's in room four seventy seven," were Roslyn's parting words to Kate.

The elevator to the fourth floor couldn't have moved slower, and the walk to room seventy seven couldn't have been longer. Quietly, Kate slipped into the room and closed the door behind her. The woman lying in the bed, a younger, shorter, heavier set version of herself, was slightly scratched up, but breathing and whole. Her right leg was in a cast up to her knee and suspended at a thirty degree angle by a medical pulley, but she was still blessedly whole, her heart still pumping as the monitors to which she was attached showed.

Slowly, Kate walked over to the bed. "Rachel…" she whispered.

Her sister's eyes fluttered open and were out of focus for a moment before resting on Kate's face. A moment passed before relief and realization dawned on her. "Kate…" she said hoarsely, reaching an arm out to her elder sister.

Tears pricking at the backs of her eyes, Kate gently hugged Rachel. "Kel…" she murmured into her dark hair, addressing her by her childhood nickname. "I was so scared, Kel… So, so scared…"

"So was I," Rachel whispered back. "I'm so happy to see you again, big sister."

Kate let a few happy tears slide down her cheeks as she pulled away from her little sister and pulled over a chair. "How do you feel?" she asked, holding her sister's hand. "Any mental or emotional trauma…?"

"Well, I can't speak for mentally," Rachel laughed, adjusting her position slightly. "I'm sore, but I'm fine otherwise." She looked out the window and softly added, "It could have been a lot worse if Shadow Maru hadn't been there."

"Who's Shadow Maru?" Kate asked.

"Okay, y'know that mechanical dog I told you about on the phone?" Rachel started, her voice dropping to a low, hurried hush.

"Yeah…" Kate answered.

"Okay, look—he's not _just_ a dog; he's a transforming robot—"

"It's a dog version of Ravage offa _Revenge of the Fallen_…?" Kate mused, quirking an eyebrow.

"No—he's nowhere near as fugly," Rachel cut off with an aggravated sigh, "He's just… he's different. I never would have gotten out alive without him. He kept me awake talking and distracted until we were dug out. He was so patient and kind and… really good at his job."

"Are we talking about a robot or a human?" Kate asked.

"Promise not to tell anyone?" Rachel asked in a second low, hurried tone.

"Yeah, sure," Kate replied, wondering into what weird rabbit hole her sister was about to shove her.

"They're worried about how people will react if they find out, but he said as long as you could be trusted not to tell anyone else I could tell you," Rachel added.

"Yes, I promise not to tell anyone," Kate repeated.

"They're not just robots—the Brave Police are alive, completely sentient," Rachel told her quietly, leaning in so close Kate could count her sister's eyelashes.

"Sentient… robots?" she asked slowly, mind still reeling that perhaps Kagerou wasn't as alone as he thought.

"Freaking sweet, right?" Rachel asked with a grin.

"Yeah, it is..." Kate replied.

The door opened and shut, and Rachel shifted her gaze to the newcomer. A wide grin spread across her face. "What are you doing here, you trouble maker?" she teased.

Kate turned to see who she was talking to, and had to fight back a gasp and waves of sickening déjà vu when she saw a mech, nearly identical to Kagerou—where Kagerou was turquoise, this newcomer was deep amethyst; where the crest of a tiger adorned his chestplates, there was a four-pointed throwing star; this new mech's wings were solid white and reminiscent of a jet's; Kagerou's were red and silver, like a bat or dragon.

.

"_Konichiwa_, Rachel-san," the purple mech answered with a deep bow. "I'm… stuck, I suppose is the word, in this body until my regular one can be properly repaired. I thought I would come see how you're doing." Even his voice was as tempered and his words as eloquent as Kagerou's, Kate noted with concern.

"Oh, thank you," Rachel replied, returning the bow as best she could. "This is my sister I was telling you about—Kate, this is Shadow Maru." Rachel's voice softened as she addressed her sister.

Still fighting off waves of shock, Kate stood to shake his hand. "It's so wonderful to meet you," she said sincerely, trying not to let her healthy dose of nervousness show in her voice. "Thank you for getting my sister out of there."

"It's just… part of my job, ma'am" Shadow Maru replied modestly.

"Either way, I'm still very grateful," Kate insisted. "If you hadn't been the one to find her, she probably wouldn't have survived. I know there aren't many others like you that could have found her and been able to keep the rest of the building from collapsing on her… are there?"

"Some, but not many," Shadow Maru replied vaguely. "I should be leaving now…"

"Stay and visit with us, Shadow Maru-san!" Rachel interjected eagerly. "Pull up that other chair and hang out with us!" With a thin half-smile, Shadow Maru complied.

Over the next half hour, Kate, Rachel and Shadow Maru talked. Kate tried everything in her power to twist the conversation to the other Brave Police officers, but wasn't able to find out anything that would connect Kagerou to them aside from Shadow Maru's outward appearance and eloquence.

* * *

_Later that evening…_

When Kate got home, Kagerou was sitting on the couch with Becky curled up on his shoulder. "How is she doing?" he asked.

"She's fine," Kate said with relief as she sat next to him. "Mom's staying at the hospital with her tonight and she should be able to go home tomorrow."

"That's good..." Kagerou replied. "So what's bothering you?"

"What do you mean?" Kate asked, a little nervously.

"You look worried about something," Kagerou replied smoothly.

"It's just something happened today and… Do you know anything about the Brave Police?" she finally asked.

Kagerou started slightly, then thought for a moment. "Not that I can remember," he confessed, "although the name sounds familiar… I have a vague feeling that I wanted to avoid them even more than the human police. Why?"

"One of them rescued Rachel," Kate explained, "and she says they're sentient, just like you." Kate carefully omitted Kagerou's repaint look-alike, at least until she could do some more research and find out why Kagerou would want to avoid them.


	9. Chapter 9

_The next day…_

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you?" Kate asked as she set a glass of lemonade on the table next to Rachel, who had been released that morning and was resting at home.

"I'll be fine, Kate," Rachel replied. "It's just a broken leg—I have crutches." Rachel replied.

"Maybe someone should stay with you for a little while," Kate repeated, "just until you're use to the crutches. Your first attempt at getting your own drink didn't exactly turn out so great, remember? If I hadn't been here, who knows how long you would have been standing trying to negotiate the door and the pitcher and crutches all at once?"

"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?" Rachel asked levelly.

"I'm your over-protective big sister—what do you think?" Kate answered, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"Fine, I won't be alone," Rachel replied. "Y'know this wouldn't be such an issue you if you had gotten me the bottles of lemonade like I'd asked for."

"That's neither here nor there," Kate dismissed with a wave of her hand. "You already kicked Mom out, and you won't let me stay, so who's going to be here?"

"Shadow Maru-san is still in that human-sized body for a few days until the repairs can be made to his other body," Rachel observed coolly, "and he said he was going to be bored to death while he waited for that—I invited him over." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "He should be here soon, actually."

"…Fine—but I'm not leaving until he gets here," Kate replied as she sat down on the couch. "You said he's in a human-sized body. How does that work? How can they just be moved from one body to another?"

"Shadow Maru-san said that their minds and souls are in their AI chips," Rachel explained, taking a sip of lemonade, "and as long as the chip isn't damaged, it can be moved to another body—like plugging a USB drive into a different computer. I guess the first time they had to do repairs, they had these little toy-sized bodies, but after two of them ended up missing for like a day they decided human-sized bodies would be better."

"How did they end up being sentient?" Kate asked. _How much did Shadow Maru tell Rachel?_ she wondered—he had still been talking to Rachel when she had left the hospital day before.

"Well, the first sentient one was kinda an accident," Rachel started. "They think it had something to do with him interacting with a little boy, but really no one knows for sure—they just say it was a miracle.

"The way that the rest were made sentient is pretty hush-hush. Shadow Maru-san knows it has something to do with copying data from the first sentient robot, but he said there's only ever been one mech who knew the details… and that didn't end too well."

"What does that mean, 'didn't end too well?'" Kate asked.

"Apparently, that robot was the troublemaker of the group and ended up dead in a gutter somewhere." Rachel deadpanned.

Kate wanted, now more than ever before, to slap her sister silly for her unintentionally harsh words. "Did he say what kind of trouble, or how that robot died?" Kate asked as casually as she could. If Kagerou was the mech to whom Shadow Maru referred, it would explain a lot of why he felt like he didn't want the police to know about him.

"No," Rachel replied, cutting into Kate's worried musings. "He didn't want to talk about it—changed the subject and I really didn't see any reason to pry. Why? What's with the sudden interest in them?"

Kate paused, uncertain how much she should tell her, if anything, and was relieved when Shadow Maru knocked at the door at that very moment.

----------

Kate got about halfway home when she decided to stop at the library. She parked her car and stepped into the cool building, wandered as casually as she could to the room housing the local papers and started searching through the records for the year that Kagerou had said he had last been conscious. After what Rachel had told her, and the little bit she could guess from what Kagerou had said and implied, she was hoping that she wouldn't find anything that might have anything to do with Kagerou.

Those hopes were quickly dashed when she didn't find something that "might" be connected to him, but something that was _no doubt _connected to him—complete with a grainy but painfully clear photograph of him.

Dreading the words to come, she started to read the article. The bulk of it was a very extensive list of damage he had caused. Shoving that paper aside, she considered another. In this story, no one had been hurt, although he had taken a young woman hostage, but she had been released unharmed some hours later. This article was cast aside for another, which, to the horror evident in her wide eyes and pale face, listed two police officers and a family who had been killed when he attacked their car.

Her whole body shaking, Kate pushed all of the newspapers aside and left the library. Despite her deep, supposedly calming breaths, her mind raced as she struggled to comprehend how it could have truly been Kagerou. She willed herself to wake up, that it was all a nightmare, but with his picture right there, as plain as the stop sign she almost blew in her distracted state, there was no denying the papers' words.

The articles all indicated that the Brave Police had stopped him. What they didn't explain was why his AI chip was in the bottom of a sea trench.

------

When Kate got home fifteen minutes later, she found Kagerou sitting on the couch with a book in one hand while he pet Becky, who was sitting in his lap purring. She stared at him for a long moment as she kicked off her shoes, trying to grasp how he, who had never caused any pain intentionally, could have done the things the newspapers claimed.

He heard her weary footsteps enter the living room. "Hello, Kate," he greeted, pausing when he saw her worn out expression. "Are you alright? Is something wrong with Rachel?"

"Oh no, Kageoru—Rachel is fine," Kate replied as she walked over to the couch and flopped down, scaring Becky away. She drew her legs up beneath her and curled up next to him. She stubbornly refused to entertain the thought of him being anything but the kind, compassionate mech with whom she had...

Yes, she was ready to admit it to herself. With whom she had fallen in love.

"Kate, what's wrong?" he asked, concern lightly etched into his face as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "If it's not your sister, what has you so upset?"

No sense in lying to him—if he didn't wheedle it out of her, he would turn into a walking polygraph test, thanks to Mr. Stupid Eye Scanner. "I stopped at the library on the way home," she quietly confessed. "I think I know why you wanted to avoid the police."

"That bad?" Kagerou asked.

Kate nodded her head, wrapping her arms around him tightly, as if it could keep what she had found from being true.

"Then just forget it all—if it's truly that bad, I don't want to know what it is or why," he gently told her. "I don't want to remember it anymore—_this_ is my life now."

"What if you do remember someday?" Kate whispered. "Or decide you do want to remember?"

"It won't matter," he dismissed. "I won't let it change who I am now." He paused for a moment, choosing his next words carefully. "I must admit, though…"

"What?" Kate asked softly, making no move to rush his reply.

Kagerou gently lifted her chin to search her face before speaking, as eloquent as ever. "I must admit, Kate… I do love you. I believe from the first time you treated me well, the night you stayed with me when I had my first nightmare, I've had my heart set on you. If I am to have any chance of a future, immediate or otherwise, with you, I have to put the past in its place."

"…Really?" Kate asked softly, eyes wandering over his face, searching for a tic that called the bluff Kagerou cooked up.

"I speak only the truth, Kate," he answered. "I love you."

Never before had three words, composed of eight letters, made Kate's face blossom into smile like a sped up film of a rose opening up. "I… I love you, too," she answered.

Kagerou flashed her a devilishly charming grin. "Then I suppose this means we'll be going steady?" he asked smoothly.

"I… I would like that," Kate replied, feeling very heady—no doubt a flood of endorphins rushing through her body. "Is that what you were trying to tell me when Rachel called?"

He nodded. "I also tried before you left for Egypt. I was beginning to think I lived in a romantic comedy—every time I tried to tell you, something would interrupt me."

"So what does that make me?" Kate asked, quirking an eyebrow good naturedly.

"The beautiful leading lady," Kagerou deadpanned, brushing his lips against her cheek. Kate melted against his chest plating slightly as his lips, brushed her skin. "This is a three-day weekend for you, yes, Kate?"

"Yeah," she confirmed.

"Is Rachel going to need your help over the weekend?" Kagerou further pressed.

"She shouldn't," Kate replied, once again skimming over the presence of Kagerou's purple body double.

"Wonderful," Kagerou announced. "Go pack your bags, Kate."

"Why?" Kate asked.

"We're going on a… little road trip," Kagerou explained with a grin.

"Where to?" Kate queried with a grin.

"To that cabin you keep telling me about," Kagerou answered, standing and pulling her up with him. "Remember when you asked me about my 'perfect place?' You said yours was this cabin, that you always feel at peace when you're there."

"So I did," Kate answered flippantly.

"I feel that after everything with your sister and whatever it was you found today—" he paused to brush his lips against her forehead—"you need to relax for a while. And with the way you talk about it, it sounds like an Eden. I've always wanted to see Eden."

"Don't think that makes you Adam to my Eve," she warned.

"Of course not," Kagerou answered.

"Then that sounds wonderful," she agreed, "and with the long weekend, we can spend a couple of nights there."

"I'll get the camping supplies out of the garage," Kagerou said, kissing the back of her fingers formally.

"_Ooooooooor_ we could just stay here," Kate teased, kissing the backs of his fingers in a perfect mimic of his gesture. She lifted her head as her phone rang.

"We could," Kagerou answered, "but if we leave, we don't have to worry about blasted interruptions."

"I'll be packed within a half an hour," Kate told him before stepping into the kitchen to answer the phone.


	10. Chapter 10

I have a question for my readers, I've had the Christmas chapters of this story written since February and wanted to post them in time for Christmas, but I have several chapters between chapter 11 and the ones leading into the Christmas ones that I haven't written yet and I have a dozen or so other Christmas projects that I want to do. So if it get's to be Christmas would you prefer to be able to read the Christmas chapters for Christmas or wait until the other chapters are written?

The ones that still need to be written aren't too important, just sort of dates and more development of Kagerou and Kate's relationship, so I could just skip from the end of the next chapter to mid December and it wouldn't effect understanding what's going on in the story or anything, it may just seem a little rushed because I'll be skipping from mid summer to December. I could then finish and post the skipped chapters after Christmas if I don't have time to finish them before I post the Christmas chapters.

* * *

True to her word, Kate was packed and ready for the trip in thirty minutes. After surrendering Becky to a trusted neighbor and getting her sleeping and gym bags, camping equipment and bird mode Kagerou into her truck, she started on the long drive that took her and Kagerou deeper and deeper into the countryside.

"Alright—you can relax a bit now," Kate said after two hours of driving when she pulled into the driveway. A single log cabin stood amid trees as far as the horizon and farther. A mirror-like lake was within a short walk of the cabin itself.

"Good," Kagerou said from the passenger seat where he had been sitting, crouched down in bird mode to conceal himself.

"Let's stretch our legs for a few minutes and then we can unload the truck," Kate suggested as she killed the engine and climbed out of the truck.

"How far are we from any other houses or people?" Kagerou asked as Kate opened the door for him; he flew out and transformed to robot mode, surveying the area.

"There's several miles of forest, and then farm land beyond that," Kate replied, hardly faltering as Kagerou wrapped his arms around her from behind. "The closest other people might come are the cow pastures a couple of miles from here." She leaned back against his chestplating. "So is this going to become a habit?"

"What?" he asked, smiling against her hair.

"You randomly wrapping your arms around me," she replied easily. "'Cos I could definitely get use to it."

"I believe I could make it habit," Kagerou mused, brushing a light kiss against Kate's neck and sending a pleased chill down her spine, "although after being stuck in your house for two months, I need to stretch my wings." He quickly released her and shot straight up into the air, going higher and higher until Kate had to shield her eyes from the sun to see the little pinprick that was Kagerou.

When Kagerou seemed to be satisfied with his ascent, he swooped back down and took off over the trees, disappearing from sight for a few minutes. When Kate saw him again, he was executing flight maneuvers, transforming and flying in his humanoid and avian modes. He truly could put the Blue Angels to shame.

A short time later, he reassumed his robot mode and dove right towards Kate. Her eyes widening, she yelped and tried to duck, but he easily dipped low enough to scoop her off the ground and into his arms before soaring right back up again.

Kate yelped in surprise and panic, wrapping her arms tightly around Kagerou's neck. "What the heck are you doing?" she gasped. The wind whipped through her hair and around her and Kagerou's frames, the latter pressed together in a manner that, had they been on terra firma, might be misconstrued as indecent. Then again, Kate was more concerned about the fact that she was several stories above ground than she was about being wrapped around Kagerou like a vine on a garden lattice.

"Sharing the view," he replied smoothly, grinning at her.

Kate allowed herself a frightened glance around. Her grandparent's entire property, as well as much of the surrounding farm land, was laid out before them like a miniature scene in a hobby shop. "It's beautiful," she conceded, "but what if someone sees you?"

Kagerou tapped the side of his head, where his scanner was retracted into his helmet. "Heat sensors don't indicate any humans within visual range," he replied. "There's no one out here to see us. Now _relax_—I won't let you fall."

Kate took a deep breath, trying not to think about just how far off the ground they were, and slowly relaxed her grip on his neck a bit. It wasn't all that ba—As soon as her grip had loosened, he dropped her for a terrifying second, turning her one hundred eighty degrees and caught her again, holding her so that her back was pressed to his chest and her feet were on top of his.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Kate screeched, gripping his arms so tightly her fingers blanches. "You said you weren't going to drop me!"

"I never said I wouldn't 'drop you,'" he replied easily. "I said I wouldn't let you _fall_."

"What's the difference?!" Kate cried.

"I apologize for frightening you," Kagerou non-answered, "but that was the easiest way to adjust my grip on you."

"Why would you need to adjust your grip like this?!" Kate snapped. "I don't have anything to hold onto—I hate it!"

"Just trust me," he soothed. "I promise I won't do it again. Just relax a bit—"

"Sure, I'm just going to relax after what you did last time you told me to," Kate replied sarcastically.

"I'm not going to drop you again," he swore, "and I think you'll enjoy what I have planned once you relax." Kate slowly, if microscopically, relaxed. "Very good. Now brace your feet against mine."

She reluctantly complied, and Kagerou slowly tilted his body so he was parallel to the ground with Kate hanging under him, one arm across her shoulders and the other around her stomach to support her, her feet braced against his as they flew. "Relax more…spread your arms, feel the wind..."

Given enough time and gentle reassurance, Kate managed to relax enough to enjoy the experience of flight without a Boeing aircraft. "This _is _amazing," she admitted, "but next time warn me before you drop me."

"Very well," Kagerou conceded. "I suppose if you insist I can warn you."

The pair flew over the property and farm lands for another half hour before they finally landed and unloaded the car. "I take it you're the only one who comes here?" Kagerou asked as they stepped into the cabin, a duffel slung over his shoulder.

"Why, whatever makes you think that?" Kate replied, carefully pulling a dust covered sheet off of the couch it had been protecting.

"Nothing really…" Kagerou deadpanned, running his finger over the surface of an end table. "Probably just the two millimeter layer of dust—more than I've ever seen in my entire existence." Kagerou stepped aside so Kate could shake the dust out of the sheet on the porch.

"It actually isn't that bad," she replied between dust clouds. "Man, you should've seen it when I first inherited it, it had been about ten years since anyone had set foot inside. Cobwebs floor to ceiling and wall to wall, an _inch_ of dust on everything and of course none of the furniture had been covered." She stepped back in and started pulling dusty sheets from chairs and the dining room table. "Looked like a haunted house."

"How do we know this house _isn't_ haunted?" Kagerou teased, taking a sheet of his own and stepping out to join Kate in her eradication of the dust bunnies.

"We don't!" she laughed. "There could be monsters in the loft for all I know— the door has been jammed since before my grandparents died ."

"Aww, will I have to chase away the monsters?" he said with mock seriousness.

"Don't think so," she replied. "It's the zombies I'm worried about."

Kagerou glanced over at her, quirking an eye ridge. Kate held a serious facial expression for a few moments before the two of them started to laugh.

They took their good humor indoors as they worked at the woodstove, sink and counters, finally calling it quits after a few hours and spending the rest of the evening playing card games.

"And where am I supposed to sleep?" Kagerou asked, watching Kate set up shop.

"On the floor, or you could go to bird mode and sleep in a tree outside," Kate suggested, unrolling her sleeping bag. She looked over with an almost devious grin. "Or, since you always seem to end up in bed with me, I suppose we could just share the bed."

"I'll go for Door Number Three," he replied easily. "Just keep the zipper away from me."

"Why?" Kate questioned, arching an eyebrow.

"It's metal, and I don't want to wake up with a sleeping bag stuck to me," Kagerou answered.

"You're still absorbing metal?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "I don't know how big I was before, but I still start to absorb metal when it touches me. As long as I'm awake I can feel it starting to happen and can move before anything ends up too attached to me."

"What about when you're asleep—can you feel it then?" Kate pressed.

"Ahh… I can't," he answered slowly.

"And how did we make this discovery?" Kate asked, almost dreading the answer.

"You, ahh… You know those spare car keys you thought you'd lost at the hospital when you went to visit Rachel? Apparently, you dropped them on the couch—they fell between the cushions and were up far enough that I woke up with them… stuck to my leg. They were fully absorbed before you missed them." Kagerou told her.

"Why am I just now learning about this? Did you think I'd be mad about it?"

"Of course not!" he answered. "I was just pretty sure you'd find some way of making fun of me for walking around with them stuck to my leg, though." He made a face reminiscent of wrinkling one's nose. "I jingled like Santa Claus when I walked."

"I can't imagine why you would have thought that," Kate teased. "You know, we still need to make you your crown."

"Good luck getting me to hold still long enough," Kagerou dismissed.

"You wouldn't just hold still if I asked you to?" Kate asked sweetly.

"Not if you were trying to hold cans on my head," he replied. "Now why don't we get some sleep? I haven't really flown like the way I did this afternoon in… in forever, and I'm worn out."

"Alright," Kate agreed, kissing him on the cheek before sliding into her sleeping bag.


	11. Chapter 11

Special thanks to supergeek17 for beta reading and doing a wonderful job of keeping me motivated to get everything done in time to post the Christmas chapter by Christmas.

* * *

Kate woke up early the next morning and carefully slipped out of the bed, and Kagerou's arms as well, given that they had fallen asleep cuddling, and then outside. She walked over to a small shed, chuckling evilly the whole way, and started to put her master plan, the Mother of All Camping trick Pranks, into effect.

For something that was going to rock so hard, it was a stunningly easy prank to pull in terms of materials, which she gathered in record time. Carefully tucking the items under her arm and trying to suppress a string of mischievous chuckles, she slipped back into the cabin. Working swiftly and silently, she knelt by Kagerou's side of the bed. Thankfully, he had shifted to lie on his back and was a surprisingly heavy sleeper this time around. She carefully laid the materials on the floor—all but one, which she used to set her evil master plan into motion.

About forty five minutes later, she had fully achieved the desired effect. Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Kate snapped a few silent, flash-less photos before Kagerou started to stir. She pocketed the camera and was across the room and looking innocent in record time. She pretended to play with her hair when Kagerou sat up in bed. "Good morning," he greeted.

"Morning," Kate replied casually.

"Okay—what are you trying not to grin about?" Kagerou asked suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" she answered sweetly. "Why would you think—?"

"Every muscle around your mouth is twitching and you sound far too innocent," he answered. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing at all, oh great and wonderful Recycle King," she said, curtsying.

His face took on a horrified expression. "You didn't…" he groaned, reaching up to feel his head. Much to his horror, and Kate's delight, a semi circle of soda cans forming a crown were starting to be absorbed into his frame. "You are dead!" he cried, getting out of the bed in record time.

"Sorry, Your Majesty—I have other things to do today!" she called as she ran out of the cabin, leapt off the front porch and raced into the forest. She could hear his war cries from several hundred yards behind her, and kicked herself into high gear complete with pumping arms and legs and burning lungs.

After a while, she ducked behind a large tree to try to catch her breath. Chest heaving, she tuned her ears to listen to the woods around her, trying to figure out how far behind her Kagerou was. Wind lightly rustled the leaves, and a squirrel scampered overhead, but everything else was perfectly still.

_Must've lost _him, she decided. No sooner had the thought left her brain than Kagerou dropped onto the ground in front of her, putting one of his hands against the tree on either side of her and trapping her where she stood. "Where did you come from?" she asked.

"You should look up more often," he replied smoothly. The cans had been fully absorbed by now, betraying how long they'd been chasing each other. "You didn't really think you could hide from me did you? I can pick up your heat signature within a ten miles radius."

"That's cheating!" Kate cried. "You're not allowed to use your scanners when I'm trying to hide from you."

"Says who?" Kagerou asked.

"Says me," Kate answered.

"And why should I have to listen to the rules _you_ make up?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Because you love me and wouldn't want to upset me."

He allowed his arms to wrap themselves around her waist. "That doesn't mean I'm going to do whatever you tell me to."

"Maybe this will work better..." She leaned in and brushed her lips over his.

Kagerou stiffened under the touch and tried to pull away. Kate laid a hand on his cheek in reassurance; slowly, he laid a hand on her shoulder and hesitantly returned the kiss. The smile against his lips from Kate dispelled some of his hesitance, allowing him to kiss her a little more freely. "That's not going to get you out of trouble for the cans," he murmured between soft pecks.

"I didn't think it would…" Kate breathed kissing him one more time before slipping out of his arms and taking off running again. "Bet you can't catch me without using your scanners, Recycle King!" she called over her shoulder as she disappeared through the trees.

"You can't out run me forever—I have a much higher endurance!" Kagerou called as he followed her.

"Doesn't mean I can't try!" Kate teased as she vaulted over a large log then gasped as she slid in the wet grass and dirt on the other side of it, barely managing to catch her balance and avoid falling into the electric fence that separated the farthest edge of her property from a large cow pasture on the other side. She glanced back just in time to see Kagerou coming into sight through the trees, before she hooked to the left and took off running again.

The sound of electricity surging and Kagerou's agonized scream made her blood chill in her veins. She whipped around to see Kagerou stumbling back from the electric fence, his whole frame stiff and jerking as sparks arched across it, aided by his metallic chassis. He staggered back with a pained cry until he tripped over the felled log and fell still and quiet, excepting the occasional spasm and crackle of electricity.

Kate ran back to him, terrified that he could have been badly hurt or that the jolt could have restored his memory. For all her desire for Kagerou to be happy, she did hope that he never remembered anything from before they met. He probably would kill himself if he knew the truth… "Are you alright?" she asked worriedly, kneeling next to him as he managed to pull himself into a sitting position.

He didn't respond as he waited for the electric charge to dissipate; when it did, he pulled her into his lap, burying his face into her neck as he clung to her. His entire body was shaking and his breaths came in ragged gasps; whether this reaction was from the shock of the fence or terror was unclear. After a long moment, he pulled away slightly and said shortly, with as much dignity as he could muster, "It didn't do any damage—just stung."

"But are you alright?" Kate asked, leaning back just far enough to look him in the eyes.

"It… It brought back some type of memory," Kagerou confessed, turning his eyes skyward. "I was flying. I felt so relieved and so… so safe, for some reason. Suddenly, there were three helicopters. I was caught in nets and electrocuted with such high voltage, I could barely even think. I was… I was so terrified and in such pain… I-I think I blacked out after that."

"If you have to remember things, why can't they ever be something good?" Kate said resentfully as she wrapped her arms around him. She stopped short when she felt something warm and wet on her left hand. Brow furrowing together, she pulled her hand back to find it covered in a dark rust colored fluid. She pulled back and could see a long gauge line across Kagerou's side that had more of the fluid leaking profusely out of it. A metal fence rail sticking out of the ground nearby caught her attention. "You're bleeding," she gasped. A normal robot Kagerou was not, but for him to bleed like a human when he was cut—

Kagerou reached up to feel the damaged line, looking down at his fingertips. "It's not that bad," he dismissed.

"But you're _bleeding_," Kate reminded.

"It's no worse than a similar injury would be to you," he explained, "a bit painful, but nothing to really worry about. I have a circulatory system which is very similar to a human's—if I get cut it bleeds. My armor is little more than skin that is much tougher than yours. It may take more to damage it badly enough to bleed, but it's still just a minor cut."

"We should still get it stopped as soon as possible," Kate insisted, hauling him to his feet.

"As you insist, Doctor McFerran," Kagerou deadpanned as they headed back to the cabin.

By the time they got back to the cabin, the bleeding had nearly stopped; Kate's worrying, however, had not. "With the way you absorbed things to rebuild your entire body, it'll just heal on its own, right?" she asked as she made him sit down and pressed a warm, moist washcloth to the wound.

"As long as my AI chip is undamaged, any other injuries no matter how severe will heal themselves," Kagerou assured her.

"What about infection?" she went on.

"I don't think so," he mused.

"You don't 'think' so?" she repeated incredulously.

"I believe that my body is mechanical enough that infection shouldn't be a factor," he explained, "but at the same time the metals and fluids that make up my body are hitherto completely unknown to mankind. A great deal of research and testing would be required to find out for certain. The chances are so infinitesimal that I wouldn't worry about it."

"And if it _can_ get infected and we have no one to go to for help?" Kate pressed. "What if it spread to your AI chip and killed you?"

Kagerou reached out and gently took Kate's face between his hands, making her look him in the eye. "I'm going to be fine," he gently insisted. "If you're that concerned, you can boil out a soda can—if you have any that you didn't already attach to my head this morning, that is—and we can use it as sort of a bandage. The injury will be completely sealed off within half an hour and there won't be any way for it to get infected." He smiled gently. "Try not to worry so much—I'll be fine."

"I can't help it," she replied softly. "I've waited so long to find my knight in shining armor, and now that I've found you…" She couldn't bring herself to entertain the notion of losing him.

"I'm not going anywhere—I promise." He gently kissed her forehead then let her go.

A little while later, Kate was curled up next to Kagerou with her head on his shoulder and one arm wrapped around him to hold a cleaned can that had had the top and bottom removed and had been flattened over the wound.


	12. Chapter 12

Kate arrived at work on Monday feeling contented after another pleasant weekend at the cabin with Kagerou. It had been a month since their first trip to the cabin and, aside from the run in with the electric fence, they had both enjoyed it so much they decided to spend at least one weekend a month there. Her contented, happy mood was dashed when she saw the banners being hung up from the vaulted marble ceilings, and the poster hung in the employee lounge, announcing the annual fundraising ball.

It wasn't the extra work to set up the ball that bothered her—no, it was the ball itself. All of the museum employees were expected to attend, and considering that the previous two that she had been forced to attend nearly bore her to tears, she was not looking forward to year three. The first hour or so wasn't so bad, when two or three keynote speakers who would talk about new discoveries, future displays and plans for the museum—those things were interesting to her. It was the next few hours after that, when people socialized and danced, were what drove her to bored tears and madness. Anyone interesting or worth talking to, the archeologists and historians and chief benefactors of the museum, were always socializing amongst themselves in impenetrable clusters, which left her sitting along the wall and counting down the seconds until she could leave.

As if to add insult to injury, she would have to put up with the employees of the nineteen to twenty-nine and female persuasion who would spend the time before the ball bugging her about how she couldn't get a date… which wasn't entirely true. She had received a few offers—two with the IQs of a cardboard box and no other redeeming qualities, one selfish jerk and a very attractive young fellow who had lost a bet with the guys in advertising.

As Kate slipped her ID card lanyard around her neck, she was just resigning herself to the fact that she would be counting scuff marks on the floor when she remembered—her coworker Ciara. The gears in her brain started to analyze the facts—Ciara was a pretty brunette thing who had broken up with her on-again-off-again boyfriend (for good this time, she swore) very recently. Surely she wouldn't have a date for the ball in such a time frame—Ciara's list of negative traits were long, but the big one at the moment was that she was picky when it came to suitors; all her desirable options, namely the obscenely rich, would have already had dates for the ball before her split with On-Again-Off-Again.

It certainly wouldn't take the edge off of the brain-melting boredom of the last third of the ball, Kate mused, but she did take a sort of perverse pride in knowing that Ciara would be counting down the seconds with her. _Karma's a you-know-what, Ciara_, she thought as she started to walk past the main desk at the entrance to the museum, where she saw Ciara's brunette head, as well as those of her little cohorts April and Patty bent over something on the counter—

"Hey, Kate!"

She stopped dead in her tracks when Ciara called her over, adding to her thoughts, _And so are you_. "What?" she asked when she got over to the desk.

"I think we finally found you someone who would actually go to the ball with you," Ciara announced as she slid a catalog that they had been looking at over so Kate could see it. Twin glossy pages showed androids of varying styles with blurbs and, oddly enough, dollar signs. "It's the newest thing—just put them out on the market a few months ago—robots programmed to take the place of a date—"

"Robotic callboys?" Kate questioned, arching an eyebrow.

"Hate to disappoint you, but they're about as well-endowed as Ken dolls," April observed.

Kate opened her mouth to comment, but was swiftly cut off as Ciara went on, "They have all kinds of different programming—you can get ones that can dance or ones that will do whatever you ask them to like bringing you drinks and stuff. The damn nice ones like these—" She waved at the pages she showed Kate—"even have artificial intelligence and can talk and junk. You can choose between ones that look completely human or more robotic looking ones, too—it all just depends on how much money you can drop on one. I'm renting one of the most advanced human-looking ones—just to see how long it takes the rest of the guests to realize it's not human."

"You're renting a robot callboy to be your date?" Kate asked, concealing her wallet's cringe when she saw the rental and purchase prices. "Isn't it unethical?"

"How is it unethical?" Patty questioned. "It's a legit business."

"Unethical in that the ones with AIs… wouldn't this be like slavery to them?" Kate asked, trying not to picture Kagerou among the offensive pages.

"No—they don't feel anything," Ciara dismissed. "All they know is what they're programmed to do, and I won't be seen without a date." She closed the catalog and handed it to Kate, "I've already ordered mine, so you can keep this. Maybe you should rent one—or hell, just buy one. I mean, with your dating history—"

"What dating history?" Patty scoffed quietly (but not so quietly Kate couldn't hear her) to April. "She probably couldn't get a date if her life depended on it—even the robots might refuse."

"—you might be better off buying one. In the end it could be much _less expensive _than renting one every time you need a date," Ciara finished.

Kate bristled at the jabs at her absentee dating record and tiny bank account. "I'll certainly think about it," Kate replied smoothly, taking the catalog turning on her heel and going back to the employee lounge. The glossy catalogue burned her hands, and she was tempted to cram it down the toilet. _Not my fault every man I've ever met can't even touch Kage, _she internally groused.

Kate glanced down at the catalog, and arrived at a brilliant conclusion as she stared at the cover-bot. "Maybe I can get myself a hot robot for a date after all,"she murmured to it as she tucked the catalog in her locker, her good humor restored.

~*~*~*~

_Later that evening_…

When Kate got home from work, she dropped her keys into the dish by the door and her bag on the floor. Kagerou met her in the entryway with a kiss on the cheek by way of greeting; she replied by wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek in return. "How would you like to be my date to the fundraising ball next Friday?" she asked.

"Good evening to you too," he deadpanned, his demeanor growing serious. "Do you really think showing up in public with a _robot_ is a good idea?"

"Sure," Kate confirmed. "Ciara is going to have a robot for a date."

"Ciara the little rich one whose daddy is on the board of directors and greased a few palms to get her a job Ciara?" Kagerou asked.

"And Ciara who also gives me grief every week or so about not having a lover Ciara," Kate further confirmed, showing Kagerou the catalog. "The only reason she gave me that catalog is so she could give me even more grief."

Kagerou looked down at the catalog in disgust. "Those poor souls." he lamented.

"That's what I said," Kate replied softly.

"I certainly hope none of them are sentient." Kagerou lamented the fate of the droid and bots in the catalogue for another moment before asking, "And it would probably totally shock her if you actually showed up with a date, even if it was just a robot?"

"Yep. So what do you think—want to go to a ball with me? I'm sure the look on her face will be well worth it."

He looked down at the catalog again. "You really think people would believe I'm one of these things?"

"I don't see why not," she said, taking it from him and showing him a spread of mechs with similar body types. "There are plenty in there that look kind of similar to you, so I'm sure we could pull it off." She stepped back to glance him over. "We'll have to get you some formal wear—the wings aren't a problem."

"How are _wings_ not a problem?" he questioned, arching an eye ridge.

"Some of the robots in the catalog have all sorts of bells and whistles," she explained, frowning when her eyes stopped at the apex of Kagerou's legs. "I don't think we'll be able to explain away the cockpit, though—I doubt robo-dates transform into vehicles." She shrugged. "We'll have to get the pants custom-tailored to disguise that."

"You just want an excuse to dress me up," Kagerou accused, looking at her skeptically.

"No, getting to dress you up is just an added bonus," Kate teased, kissing his cheek. "Trust me— it'll be fun."

Kagerou weighed his options for a while before wrapping his arm around Kate's waist. "So does this mean I get to teach you to dance?"

"Teach me to dance?" Kate questioned. "You know how?"

"I've never had any real practice," he confessed, "but I thought it might be something fun for us to do, so I set up the computer in the kitchen and spent a couple days looking up and learning different dance styles while I was symbiotically attached to your old stove."

"What did you do, sit with your back against it and get it stuck to you that way?" Kate asked.

"Yes," Kagerou replied. The tone in his voice indicated that he was quite serious.

"Dude, you should have at least tried to get a picture of yourself like that!" Kate cried. "We could've called you the Stoveback of Tokyo."

"You're horrible, you know that right?" Kagerou observed.

"But if I wasn't horrible to you, how would you know I love you?" Kate asked sweetly.

"That makes no sense whatsoever," Kagerou retorted. "Why would harassing me mean you love me?"

"Because it means that I love and know you well enough to know that it won't really upset you," she explained.

"You escaped from a mental institution, didn't you?" Kagerou deadpanned.

"_Shhhh… _you're the only one who's allowed to know that," Kate replied grinning up at him. "Now let's get to steppin'."


	13. Chapter 13

For anyone who doesn't know what the lambada is here's a video of the one from Dancing with the Stars that inspired me to find a way to add it to the dances Kage and Kate learned http :// www . youtube. com /watch?v= 7aPYloM3EqU

Exciting news, I've managed to get everything I had planned between here and the Christmas chapters written and sent to my beta reader so they should be up on time for Christmas!

* * *

- A few days later… -

By nine o'clock Wednesday night, Kagerou and Kate had learned the basics of the waltz, quickstep and swing. "So should we try learning another new dance or perfect the ones we've already learned?" Kate asked as she drank deeply from a bottle of water between practices.

"Let's try one more," Kagerou suggested.

"Okay," Kate agreed, capping the water bottle. "It's your turn to pick one, so what should we learn?"

"_Any_ dance I want, right?" Kagerou asked.

"Of course," Kate confirmed.

"The lambada," Kagerou said without hesitation.

"The what to who for how much?" Kate queried.

"A Brazilian dance," he explained as he started doing a little research on the computer. "I thought it would be something… kinda fun for us to learn." He stepped away from the screen so she could see a YouTube video of the dance.

One minute and thirty-seven seconds later, Kate asked, "Is it dancing or seeing how close you can get to having sex without taking your clothes off?"

"A dance, but let's try it and decide from there," he replied, pulling her into his arms.

"I'm not dancing like that," Kate flatly denied.

"Why?" Kagerou asked.

"That's a sexy dance—I don't have a sexy bone in my body," Kate protested.

Kagerou found an online radio station with just the type of music required and turned up the volume; the beat started pulsing in their ears. "That's fine—the rest of you is more than sexy enough to make up for your bones' lack of sexiness." He slid his hands down to her hips to gently manipulate them, along with his, into rocking from side to side.

"I can't," Kate protested again. "We're supposed to be learning dances for the _ball_—there's no way I would ever dance like this in public."

"You said I got to pick the next dance," he gently reminded. "At the very least try it—fifteen minutes is all I ask. Fifteen minutes of learning some of the tamer steps, and if you're still uncomfortable, we'll try something else."

"I love you too much," Kate announced.

"I beg your pardon?" Kagerou asked.

"There's no way you could convince me to do this otherwise," Kate replied, slight color touching her cheeks as she started to match Kagerou's movements on her own.

---

_Some time later…_

"I told you this wouldn't be so bad," Kagerou observed as they swayed and dipped in time.

"So you were right," Kate replied, running her hands up and over his chest to his shoulders. "It is kind of fun."

"And you're quite good at it," he complimented. "I do have a question, though."

"What's that?" Kate asked.

"You have tomorrow off, right?"

"I traded days with Mrs. Orr when her grandson was having his tonsils out last Saturday," Kate confirmed. "Why?"

"You won't be getting out of bed in the morning," he explained.

"Why?" Kate asked. "Too sore?"

"Look at the time," Kagerou told her, dipping her with fluid ease.

She tipped her head back to look at the microwave clock. The digital display read 1:32. "There's no way we've been dancing that long!" she gasped. The rest of her sentence was wiped clean from her mind as Kagerou spun her away from his body. The rush of breeze through her ginger hair was exhilarating to say the least. "Guess it Iis/i a good thing I don't have to work tomorrow." She spun back into him to wrap one leg high around his hip.

"You're not done practicing, are you?" Kagerou asked teasingly.

Kate grinned as she playfully gyrated her shoulders and hips, the latter opposite the direction of Kagerou's own gyrating. "We still have a few steps we need to perfect," she reminded, then giggled. "What did you put in that cake you made for dessert? Pot, crack?"

"None of the above," he replied easily. "There was enough sugar in the penuche icing alone to get you to loosen up to learn this dance—and you just keep getting better and better the later it gets."

"You're a bloody horror, giving me a sugar high just to get me to dance with you," Kate scolded.

"Not that you really care right now," he dismissed, "and by the time the sugar wears off you'll have gotten comfortable enough dancing like this that it won't seem as bad as it did the first time."

Kate grinned at him, kissing his cheek. "You're probably right."

---

_That Friday…_

"Are you ready to go yet?" Kagerou called through Kate's door. "It's never taken you this long to get ready to go anywhere."

"Almost done!" Kate called back.

"You said those exact words not ten minutes ago," he replied.

Kate opened the door and stepped out, wearing the top half of a colonial period dress, mint green in color. Pink lace trimmed the neck, bodice and edges of the sleeve ruffles; a second length of wide white lace ran under that. More pink ribbon crisscrossed down the front of the bodice and around the waist line to tie in a sweet little bow in the small of the back. She had a fluffy white towel wrapped around her waist to conceal her more undressed lower half, but Kagerou could spy the edge of the waistband of the appropriate garment peeking out between the towel and the hem of the dress top. "See? Halfway done," she told him before disappearing into her room again for a moment. When she opened the door, this time allowing his entry, a matching wrap skirt with a slit in one side had replaced the towel.

"I love wearing dresses," she said as she tossed a crinoline and petticoats and the outer skirt on the bed, "but these fancy ones with multiple layers of petticoats are such a pain."

Kagerou poked at the wire and crinoline conglomeration. "This thing doesn't look very lambada conducive," he observed.

Tugging at the hemline of the underskirt, Kate bounced over to him and hooked a leg over his hip. "True," she conceded as she kissed his cheek, "but the rest of the dress is. Plus, the hoopskirt just ties on and won't take that long to get off if we decide we need to do a little more dancing once we get home." She stepped away, grabbing the crinoline and was about to tie it on when she noticed—"Kagerou, what on earth do you think you're staring at?"

"You have calves," Kagerou announced seriously.

"You've lived with me for over three months and you're just now realizing I have calves?" she chuckled.

"You're always wearing long skirts or jeans—even your nightgowns go nearly to your ankles," he answered. "What was one supposed to think?"

"Well for one thing, I think you'd like seeing a little more of my legs," she guessed.

"I would," he replied easily. "You have dancer's legs—quite attractive."

"How about we make this my practice outfit?" Kate suggested, swinging her hips before tying on the crinoline.

"I could get into that," Kagerou said easily.

"I thought you would," Kate answered, straitening the collar of his navy jacket, a replica of a Revolutionary War soldier's.

"Are you sure I have to wear all this?" he asked, tugging awkwardly at the jacket.

"Of course I'm sure!" she answered, patting his shoulder. "You look very dashing—we'll have to remember that tailor and give him a far bigger commission next time. Now come on—I don't want to miss the speakers."

---

_Within the half hour…_

"Oh my God, you actually got one!" Ciara gawked when she spotted Kate—naturally on Kagerou's arm in true pre-20th century fashion.

"Better than being bored to death, wouldn't you agree?" Kate smoothly replied, taking a long, analytical look at the android mech that had followed Ciara over to her. It did look strikingly human—six feet two, slim, tanned skin, cocoa brown eyes—at first blush, but its movements were stiff and forced, its eyes were cold and unblinking. It had, simply put, no soul. "So this is yours?"

"Yes, top of the line," Ciara replied smugly. "It can dance and talk—anything I want it to. What about yours?"

"The same," Kate replied.

"I wouldn't have thought you'd be able to afford one like that," Ciara purred, "although obviously you couldn't afford one of the human looking ones."

"Well I did have that coffee can of cash buried in my backyard," Kate answered easily, "so I decided to dig up my wealth and get something fun. Besides—" she paused to run a finger up Kagerou's arm. As they had agreed earlier, he offered no reaction to the chills racing over his chassis. "—it's way more fun to get one that stands out more. This model just seemed to have a certain… elegance and uniqueness to it that I couldn't resist." She fixed Ciara with a look that dripped ice and fake friendliness. "As much as you love being the center of attention I'm surprised you didn't get one that would draw more attention instead of blending in."

"True," Ciara nodded slowly. "Interested in trading up for the evening? I know you don't like to be the center of attention…" She stepped up close to Kate, who almost choked on the scent of Ciara's perfume, "and you're certainly getting a lot of it right now." Ciara stepped back a bit and nodded her head to either side, indicating several groups of people who were whispering behind their hands and pointing at Kagerou.

Kate stepped back up to Ciara and coolly replied, "No thanks—I'll stick with the one I've got." Kate pulled away and linked her arm through Kagerou's and started toward their seats. "I'm so sorry about that," she breathed.

"For what?" he leaned in slightly.

"For calling you 'it,'" she answered under her breath. "And where did that catty streak come from?"

"It's quite alright, Kate," he assured, patting her hand as they sat to hear the speakers for the evening.

When the speeches were over two hours later, Kagerou and Kate made their way to the open ballroom… after Kate explained to several people where Kagerou had "come from" and shooed them off to gawk at Ciara's robot.

"I thought we'd never get away from them all," Kate muttered once they made it out onto the dance floor, clasping her hands behind Kagerou's neck.

"Agreed," he whispered, resting his hands on her waist and leading her in a simple dance. "I'm beginning to think it's not really so bad being stuck in the house most of the time—certainly better than getting all this attention."

A few hours later, after all the dignitaries and their guests had gone home and the various employees had cut a little loose, Kagerou and Kate were still slow dancing, nearly heedless of the world around them. "Nearly" heedless because when the song ended, Ciara walked up to Kate and said, "Your robot is pretty good at these high school slow dances, but can it do anything faster?"

"Of course," she replied easily. "Why?"

"My friends were arguing about which kind of robot could dance better," Ciara purred, examining her talon like, French tipped nails, "so I was thinking about having a little bet—I'll bet you fifty bucks my robot and I can out dance you and your robot."

"I wouldn't bet you five dollars that I could beat you," Kate replied. "I've only just started learning in the last week, but if you have your heart so set on it, I'll gladly take you up on it—but no money."

"Well, at least you're willing to admit that I'm better—let's do this," Ciara answered icily, before walking over to the DJ.

Kate's eyes went wide when the impromptu competition was announced to the room as a whole. "I thought she meant with her friends watching—not us being the only ones on the dance floor!" she whined into Kagerou's audio.

"You'll do fine," he assured.

"It's not the _dancing_ that's the problem," she explained, chewing her lower lip. "It's being the center of attention that makes me uncomfortable."

"You'll do fine," Kagerou consoled, silencing himself when Ciara returned.

"So what dances do you know?" Ciara asked when Kate and Kagerou joined her and her soulless robotic date.

After comparing their skills and having the DJ start up the proper music, the pairs danced a few rounds of each dance. Kate was deeply satisfied to see that she was doing just as well as Ciara was, and that Kagerou's dancing was far smoother and more flexible than Ciara's robot's stiff movements.

As the music for the last dance ended, Kate broke away from Kagerou to address Ciara. "You and I seem to be fairly evenly matched, but I'd have to say my robot is the better dancer."

Ciara's shoulders, held unnaturally stiff, betrayed her agitation. "We'll see who's better," she half growled before walking over to her father, saying a few low, angry looking words to him and breaking away to step up to the DJ booth and fairly snatch his microphone from his stand. "We're going to have one more round," she announced to the crowd of employees and a few officers of the museum. "This one will be… a bit of a contest—if I win, my father will donate ten thousand dollars towards remolding the museum lobby and workers lounge; if Kate wins, he'll donate that money towards the new deep-sea submersible that Dr. Bale has been trying to get funding for."

Kate almost clutched her chest and dropped to the floor in heart attack as Ciara went on, "When we're done thirty random people will draw papers from a hat and half of them will get a paper naming them as judges—those fifteen decide who wins." She turned to the DJ and indicated what type of music to play and stepping onto the dance floor, snatching her robotic partner's hand.

Kate seethed as Ciara danced a showy tango. "I can't believe her!" she groused to Kagerou. "She's been bragging all night about how young she was when she started dancing and she Iknows/i I just started learning! It's not even a contest—she knows she'll win and she's not even really doing it for the museum. She's whined ever since she started working here that the place isn't fancy enough for her. You know that Pepsi machine in the lounge the employees voted to chip in for? When we were taking suggestions for what to get, she had the audacity to suggest a hot tub. Yeah, a little hot tub stuck back in the break room. Do you know how much good the money for a hot tub could do elsewhere in the museum?!" she practically flailed her arms in disgust.

"We'll just have to beat her then," Kagerou observed.

"How are we going to beat that?" Kate asked, thumbing disgustedly towards the dance floor.

"You said it yourself—I'm a better dancer than that thing is," Kagerou began. "I'd say your best dance excepting the lambada is the quickstep—logic would dictate we do that."

"I guess all we can do is do our best," Kate sighed.

When Ciara finished her dance, she bowed a few times to the clapping crowed then walked over to Kate, dragging her robotic date with her. "Good luck—you'll need it," she practically hissed, stepping right into Kate's space bubble. "Maybe after this you should try to learn to dance something a little more suited to the times and sexually appealing instead of those stuffy old steps. Then again…" She chuckled rather evilly. "You probably couldn't do sexy if your life depended on it." The words were loud enough to garner a few laughs from her circle of friends.

Kate drew herself up to her full five feet seven inches. "It's not my life that's on the line," she answered levelly. "It's the future of my career that depends on this—that sub could make a major difference in my research abilities."

"Yeah, sure," Ciara replied condescendingly. "And maybe if you win you can afford a more fashionable wardrobe and a boyfriend."

Kate stepped right into Ciara's bubble, lifting her chin defiantly. "May the best woman win then," she replied calmly before stepping away and marching to the DJ table.

"I intend to!" Ciara called after her as she went to find a good place from which to watch the forthcoming freak show.

After a moment of conferring with the DJ, Kate rejoined Kagerou. "We're not doing the damn quickstep," she muttered, unclasping the back of her skirt and going to untie the crinoline.

"I beg your pardon?" Kagerou asked, surprise written all over his face as he watched Kate check the slit in the side of her skirt. It went to just shy of her hip.

"You don't make a fool of Katherine McFerran in public," Kate growled, laying the excess layers over the back of a chair, "not without expecting a retaliatory strike."

"Are you decent under that thing?" he asked as she half ripped the uniform jacket from his torso.

"No indecent exposure, promise," she replied with an almost predatory glint in her eyes. "I have short bike shorts under it." She thought she heard him mutter something to the effect of _Praise be to God_…

"Are you sure about his?" he asked softly when she dragged him onto the floor.

"Too late to turn back now," she replied, resting her hands on his shoulders and trailing them down his chest as the pulsing Brazilian beat filled the room.

They fell into a step that betrayed their practice, swaying, turning and dipping in perfect unison and inevitably ending up in positions that, half an hour earlier, Kate would have rather shot herself in the foot multiple times than have been seen in.

As the song came to an end, Kagerou spun her away from and back to him, ending with her arms wrapped around his neck and her right leg hooked high over his hip. His right hand rested just below the opening in the side of her skirt, while the other rested between her shoulders. Their foreheads were pressed together, and he could feel the sweat on her forehead and hear her heavy breathing and pounding heart and see the fire in her dark eyes. They stood like that for a few seconds, looking very much like a tourism poster for 1950s Havana before disentangling themselves.

The crowed was painfully silent for a long moment. Kate suspected the reason was because, since most of the crowd was made up of her coworkers, they were stunned at the sudden appearance of her typically understated sex appeal. After several seconds, the crowd started clapping and cheering.

Giddy pleasure colored Kate's cheeks as she took Kageour's hand in hers. They bowed once before going back to where she had left her skirts. Kagerou stood patiently as she slipped back into the crinoline and overskirt. Kate managed to spot Ciara through her crowd of people complimenting her, and she shot the other woman a smug smile.

"I never would have expected you to know how to dance like that," Mrs. Orr, head of the museum's artifact preservation department and thus Kate's immediate supervisor, said as she walked over to Kate and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I certainly never thought it was something I'd do in public," Kate replied honestly.

"I'm glad you did—about time someone showed up that little rich brat," Mrs. Orr clucked. "You sure proved her wrong."

"You were incredible, my dear," Dr. Bale, a right proper Englishman if ever there was one, praised as he joined them. "I never would have expected to see you dance like that, but I'd dare say that new sub is as good as ours."

"I hope so, Dr. Bale," Kate said sincerely. "I just couldn't give up the chance to get that funding—not without a fight."

"My compliments to you, my dear," Bale said, kissing the backs of her fingers. "To you and your partner." Kagerou offered a stiff bow in response, milking the "unfeeling robot" charade for all it was worth.

The votes were swiftly tallied and announced. Kate won, eleven to four—one being the museum's ninety-something bookkeeper who cited the dance as being "outrageously inappropriate" for a museum ball; the other three were from Ciara's entourage.


	14. Chapter 14

It was, simply put, the most beautiful September weekend on record. The sun was out and the weather was pleasingly warm, making Kagerou and Kate decide to head to the cabin again to enjoy the perfect weather and the weekend overall before it started getting too cold for Kagerou to take Kate flying with him.

As they came around a curve in the road, Kate slowed the car down when she saw a couple of trucks and road workers blocking the road that lead to the cabin. Grabbing her windbreaker out of the backseat, she covered bird mode Kagerou with it. "Stay down and stay quiet," she ordered as she pulled up to the roadwork.

"Excuse me?" she called to one of the workers as she rolled down her window. "Can you tell me why this road is blocked?"

"Yeah—that storm that rolled through yesterday knocked down a tree and a tunna rock from the cliff it was growing on," the worker, a middle aged man with a think Texas draw, told her pointing up the road, where she could see a few other workers cutting up the tree, as well as several boulders spread across the road.

"Any idea how long it'll take for it to be cleared?" Kate asked.

"Might be done by tonight or tomorrow, " he said, wiping sweat from his brow. "Only two houses on that road, both of 'em unoccupied or vacation homes so they only sent the three o' us out. Y'all own one of those places?"

"The cabin at the end of the road," Kate answered.

"Awful sorry 'bout that, ma'am," the worker apologized.

"Oh don't worry about it," Kate replied sincerely. "I'll just drive back by on the way home later." She smiled as she rolled up her window and did a three point turn and went back down the road.

"Later? We're not going home now?" Kagerou questioned as he popped his head out from under her jacket.

"We drove all this way and I'm not wasting my gas mileage," Kate replied.

"Then where are we going?" Kagerou asked.

"Some family friends have a place near here," she explained, turning down a side road, "almost as private as the cabin. They said if we ever had a big family get-together at the cabin and needed more space we could use their place 'cause they're getting too old to make it out here anymore but just don't have the heart to sell it. You'll have less private airspace, though."

"Any flying at all is better than none," Kagerou replied.

Half an hour later, they pulled into a nicely paved if slightly overgrown driveway that lead back to a three story house with a wraparound deck on the ground and second floors; the yard, a few years before, had been nicely landscaped but was now being reclaimed by the surrounding forest. A row of tall bushes spread out from either side of the house completely blocking the backyard from view.

"Fancy," Kagerou observed as they got out of the truck and he transformed to robot mode.

"They're pretty well off," Kate explained. "They wanted somewhere private, so when this area was split up to be developed into vacation properties they bought three—the one the house is on and one on each side so no one would build too close to them."

"I'm glad they did—there's no one within five miles in any given direction," Kagerou announced, sweeping Kate into his arms before taking off into the air.

"I love the views I get to see with you," Kate sighed. "Look at how _blue_ the ocean is!"

Kagerou suddenly half dropped, half landed, in the sand that formed the majority of the backyard. Kate slipped out of his arms, scrambling to right herself on the warm sand. "What's wrong? Why did you—" She stopped when she noticed that his scanner was down over his eye, a primal terror etched in his face as he stared at the ocean. "Kage?" she said gently, taking one of his shaking hands in hers, but not getting any response.

After a few agonizingly long minutes of failing to get any type of reaction out of him and running out of options, she kissed him, light but loving. It was like kissing a lamppost, she got as much response. She softly hugged him, worrying about what to do now that Plan Z had failed, when he slowly wrapped his arms around her. The action felt, to Kate, very wooden, as did the kiss he brushed against her forehead. Feeling like she was guiding a child, Kate slowly turned him around and lead him to the gate that lead back to the driveway. "Are you okay?" she asked gently once they had made it back to her truck.

Kagerou slid to the ground, leaning back against the truck tire. "I believe so," he answered hoarsely. "I've… I've never had a flash back that strong before."

"What do you mean?" Kate asked, sitting next to him.

"I think the person I wanted to be there with me was another robot, a male," he began, tilting his head back to look at the sky. "I-I think he was there, but I told him to leave—at least we wouldn't both die. I also think I was still afraid he wouldn't get out in time." He took her hand in his, looking over at her and then pulling her down to sit in his lap when she started crying. "What's the matter?"

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, hiding her face in his shoulder. "I never should have brought you here."

"Why?" Kagerou asked.

"I should have known that the water would be a problem," she moaned.

Kagerou took her face by the chin and lifted her face to look into her eyes. "You've done no wrong, Kate," he seriously intoned. "You had no way of knowing it would affect me so severely, and I have to admit, I've done fairly well around the pond at the cabin."

"You can't get within ten feet of the pond before you start getting uncomfortable," Kate argued.

"I was up by the bench next to it last time," Kagerou reminded.

"Pfft, yeah—long enough to bring me a beach towel and you were at least ten feet away when your scanner came out and you only do that when you're uncomfortable," Kate retorted.

"It doesn't matter," he easily dismissed. "It's over now, and it's not your fault."

"But I—" Kagerou gently place a finger over her lips.

"It's _not your fault_," he repeated. "It's the fault of whoever was responsible for me ending up in that trench. Don't worry about it anymore, Kate. I'll be fine."

"You're still shaking," Kate whispered, taking his hand in hers. "If I hadn't brought you here, or had at least warned you, this wouldn't have happened."

"Kate, please—stop blaming yourself," he asked gently. "Just let me hold you for a while."

"Alright," Kate finally relented, feeling guilt gnawing at her consciousness as she wrapped her arms around Kagerou.

It took Kagerou thirty minutes to stop shaking, but neither one of them were in a hurry to let go of each other when he suddenly stiffened.

"What is it?" Kate asked as they stood up.

"Someone's coming," Kagerou announced minimally. They ducked behind a row of thick trees as a purple car pulled into the long driveway.

"You've got to get out of here," Kate told him urgently, pushing him into some nearby trees. "Head to the cabin—if the road is cleared, I'll meet you there. If not, wait a couple hours then come back here, but not if there's anyone else here."

"Why can't I just hide here?" Kagerou asked.

"It's not a car," Kate hissed. "It's that stupid robot my sister has been hanging around with. If he has a scanner like yours he'll know you're here."

Nodding his understanding, Kagerou gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before assuming his bird mode and flying off.

The car engine stopped, and Kate could hear doors opening and closing. "Kate? Hey, Kate, where'd you disappear to?" Rachel called. Having little choice, Kate reluctantly stepped out of the trees as though she had been taking a walk. Rachel spotted her and, grinning, ran up to her and caught her elder sister in a hug.

"What are you doing here?" Kate asked as she loosely hugged her sister in return.

"You said you were heading up to the cabin and I thought it might be fun to have a camp out together," Rachel replied. "When we saw the road was closed, I thought we'd just come up here for the day and see if you had come too."

"I see you brought your robot with you," Kate said—quietly, so Shadow Maru wouldn't hear her. "Why did you bring him along, if I may be so bold as to ask?" Her irritation with his presence was far from subtle. It wasn't so much that she disliked him; rather, she was worried that as long as he was hanging around with Rachel, it increased the chances of Kagerou being discovered.

Rachel, in typical Rachel McFerran fashion, missed her sister's tone. "I was bored, he has the weekend off and he was bored, so I invited him," she replied easily as they walked over to his car mode, "plus it saves me gas and having to drive. He drives and I get to enjoy the scenery."

Kate stopped when the trunk closed and Shadow Maru's human sized body was standing there holding a gym bag. "Where are we going with these?" he asked Rachel.

"Oh, ' round back for now," Rachel replied, pointing towards the gate. "Thank you!"

"How—" Kate started to ask.

"When his AI chip is in his smaller body, he can connect to the larger body and still control it," Rachel explained, sensing the question. "It's sort of like connecting a controller to a video game."

As the impromptu trio stepped through the gate, Shadow Maru froze. "What's wrong?" Rachel asked as she joined him and laid a hand on his shoulder. Kate lingered off to the side, watching Shadow Maru closely. Her curiosity was piqued by his reaction, which was strikingly similar to Kagerou's, although the effect didn't last anywhere as long and the look that crossed his face seemed to be more of sadness than of fear.

"It's nothing," he stammered in reply to Rachel's question.

"You froze up like you had a glitch—that's not nothing," Rachel observed.

"You didn't tell me this place had a beach," he whispered.

"Why? Is that a problem?" Rachel asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I lost… someone," Shadow Maru softly admitted, then squared his shoulders. "So where would you like—"

"Why don't you just tell us about him? Instead of constantly changing the subject?" Kate asked suddenly. Sure, she was being a little nosy and rude asking so bluntly, but she had been trying for months to find out what he knew about Kagerou without giving away anything she knew, but on the few occasions that anything might have had to do with him Shadow Maru was swift to change the subject. Now, with his reaction to the ocean and Kagerou's mention of another robot being with him, she was hoping to at least find out how Kagerou's AI chip had ended up in the trench.

Her sister looked at her like she had sprouted a second head and a set of horns. "What are you talking about?" Rachel demanded.

"The one that died or whatever," Kate replied with a hard edge. "The one that comes up occasionally and then he changes the subject. If he's going to come up, the least this one could do is give us some type of explanation as to why he constantly changes the subject."

"Very well," Shadow Maru bit out, glaring at Kate. "He is long dead, his AI chip rotted away to nothing at the bottom of some trench in the ocean." He indicated the general area in which they stood. "Is this spot alright?" he asked Rachel.

"It's fine," Rachel replied softly.

Shadow Maru set their things down. "I'm going for a walk," he coldly announced taking off down the beach.

As soon as he was out of sight, Rachel shot Kate a murderous look. "How can you be such a heartless bitch?" she demanded. "What the hell was up with that?"

"I didn't mean to upset him," Kate answered. This was true. "Half of the times I've seen him at your house, this 'other robot' comes up and he always changes the subject. I just wanted to know why and if it's that painful for him, maybe if we knew what happened we could avoid anything that would bring it up." This was only partially true.

"I don't know," Rachel sighed, her tone somewhere between sadness and frustration. "I've been curious myself, but there _had_ to have been a nicer way of asking." She considered her sister with a critical gaze. "You don't like him, do you? He says you're uncomfortable around him and I'm inclined to agree."

"It's not that I don't like him," Kate explained. "I just… I think it'll just take some time to get use to being around a sentient robot is all." Now she was telling her little sister a boldfaced lie. "I think you just adjusted to it so quickly because of him saving your life and all."

"Given the hours we were trapped under the building and talking and all the times he helped me out after I got home from the hospital, I have had a lot more time to get use to him," Rachel replied tartly.

The conversation waned until Shadow Maru returned some time later. Kate stood from where she and Rachel had been talking and crossed the sand to join the amethyst mech. "Shadow Maru, I'm sorry if I was insensitive earlier," she apologized, all business. "My curiosity gets the better of me sometimes."

"Apology accepted," he replied, just as all business. "I shouldn't have snapped at you the way I did, and for that _I_ apologize." He looked out at the horizon. "It's a very painful memory for me. Maybe I'll tell you and your sister about him someday, but right now I'd prefer to salvage the remains of the day and enjoy it."

Kate agreed, even thought she wildly preferred dropping to her knees and begging for details.

The rest of the day went smoothly, filled with casual conversation, until Rachel and Shadow Maru left. Kate stayed at the beach a little longer, then climbed into her truck and started down the road again. She was more than a little grateful to find the road cleared.

When she got to the cabin Kagerou was sitting on the porch, waiting for her. "How'd it go?" he asked, coming over to meet her.

"Fine," she replied, hugging him. "It just makes me uncomfortable the way Rachel spends so much time with that robot. What if he had seen you today?"

"Don't worry—I'm sure everything will be fine," Kagerou told her, gently kissing her forehead before helping her carry her bags in.

Once they got everything into the cabin, Kagerou pulled Kate into his arms. "Now, as I recall, we have a whole day that we should have been spending together to make up for."

"I couldn't agree more," Kate replied, brushing her lips against his cheek. She glanced out the window at the coral colored sky. "Do you think it's still early enough to catch the sunset?"

"If we get high enough," he replied, scooping her up into his arms in a bridal style hold, carrying her outside and taking off into the air.


	15. Chapter 15

I don't even remember how I came up with this chapter, I wrote it last February and now I can't read it without blushing, but I'm being bribed by supergeek17 to not make any major changes or take anything out of it and a couple other chapters that I wrote around the same time so here it is.

_A few months later…_

"Wake up, Kage," Kate said as she rolled over to face him and shook his shoulder. She had long ago given up on the idea of not sharing a bed with the turquoise mech; at this point, she was fine with it so long as he kept it clean.

"Ngh… Why?" he groaned sleepily. "It's Saturday—don't we get to sleep in on Saturday?"

"Not today," she replied with a grin. "Today we're going to the cabin."

"Why do we have to go out in the cold instead of staying inside where it's warm?" Kagerou asked.

"Because it's finally been cold long enough that the pond should be frozen—I want to go ice skating," Kate replied, sitting on the edge of the bed to slider her slippers onto her feet.

"Wouldn't you rather stay here where it's nice and warm?" Kagerou asked, sitting up behind her and kneading her shoulders and upper back. "I'm sure we can find plenty of things to do around here."

"We _could_ do that," Kate replied with a smile, "but I want to go skating. It'll be good for you to get out of the house, and when we come home all chilled from being out in the cold we can cuddle up together to get warm." She stood and grabbed her corduroys and sweater. "Trust me—this is gonna be awesome."

---

_A few hours later…_

"Isn't there an ice skating rink in town?" Kagerou asked as the truck rumbled down the narrow, snowy road. "Wouldn't it have been faster and safer to just go there?"

"Yeah, but that wouldn't have been as much fun and you couldn't have come with me," Kate replied, heading though a clearing in the trees. "I prefer having the ice to myself and not having to worry about running into other people."

After struggling through the deep snow for about a mile, the trees opened to reveal the clearing with her grandparent's cabin and partially snow covered pond.

"Come on—this'll be fun!" Kate said as she jumped out of the truck and ran over to the pond. Brushing a pile of snow off the bench nearby, she sat down and quickly laced up her skates before seizing a large rock from a pile next to the bench.

"Here—throw this out towards the middle," she told Kagerou as he walked over to her.

"Why?" Kagerou asked.

"To make sure the ice is solid," Kate explained. "Throw it good and high—with the temperature the ice should be thick enough to be safe, but this'll just confirm it a little more. It's something my grandparents always use to do."

Kagerou threw the rock, which bounced off the ice then rolled several feet. Kate stood on the bank and listened for any sounds of the ice cracking from the impact, stepping onto the ice when she didn't hear any.

Kate spent the next hour skating semi gracefully around the pond, occasionally falling, and trying to convince Kagerou to join her. "Are you sure you don't want to join me?" she asked for the sixtieth time in as many minutes. "This is really fun and with your ninja balance I'm sure you would do just fine." She skated around to where he sat on the fishing dock.

"I'm quite certain, thank you," Kagerou replied.

"Why? Afraid you'll fall on your adorable butt?" Kate teased, skating up to him and resting her hands on his knees.

He glanced away and mumbled something just quiet enough that she couldn't hear it. "What?" Kate asked.

Sighing, he confessed, "It's not the ice that I'm afraid of… it's what's under it."

"The water," Kate replied, pulling herself up to sit on the dock next to him and wrapping her arms around him.

"I haven't been near this much water since that beach," Kagerou observed distractedly.

"I can't believe I didn't think about that," Kate groaned, hiding her face in her hands. "You should have told me sooner—I would have stopped bugging you to come out with me."

"It was more fun to see how long it would take you to give up," he teased, "Anyways I'm doing fairly well getting this close, but we should be getting home now."

"Why?" she asked, pulling back slightly. "We've only been here an hour—are you getting bored with nothing else to do? I'm sure we could find something for you to do—"

"No, I'm enjoying the peace and quiet," he cut off, "but it's too cold for you to stay out any longer. Your body temperature is getting too low, and if you stay out here much longer you could get hypothermia."

"I am getting a little cold," she admitted. "I'll meet you at the truck." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before stepping back on to the ice and skating towards the other end of the pond where she had left her boots.

She was crossing the center of the pond when her foot caught on a rough patch of ice and she fell backwards, landing hard on the ice. The first thing she was aware of was a puddle of cold water soaking through her gloves—the ice was wet where she had landed. She quickly scanned the area and she suddenly realized what her skate had caught on—a crack in the ice. "Kage, the ice is—" There was a loud cracking sound and she was suddenly plunged into the icy water.

She was stunned for a moment and barely managed to fight back the urge to scream as hundreds of icy knifes stabbed her. When her initial shock passed, she swam for the surface and ran into ice before she realized she had drifted a few feet from where she had fallen through. Mentally cursing, her lungs burning from lack of oxygen and her whole body engulfed with pain, she struggled towards the opening; she didn't feel like she was getting anywhere as her muscles seemed to refuse to work right.

She was going to die there—with Kagerou's intense hydrophobia, she doubted he would be able to help her no matter how much he wanted to. After the way he had reacted at the beach she could easily picture him, standing at the edge of the pond, frozen by his fear of the water, wanting to help her, but unable to. She only wished she could let him know she wouldn't blame him for not being able to help her.

Suddenly the ice above her shattered and Kagerou was at her side, grabbing her around the waist and shooting up and out of the water with his jets. The pair landed in a snow drift at the side of the pond. Kate clung to him as she panted for air. "T-thought I was going to d-d-die down there," she groaned through chattering teeth.

"Not on my watch," Kagerou assured her as he picked her up and carried her to the cabin. As soon as they were inside, Kagerou set Kate in a chair then pulled a plastic dust cover off of the bed. Not finding whatever he was looking for, he started searching all the cupboards, banging them open with increasing urgency.

"Th-there's nothing h-here," Kate called weakly, shivering so hard she was having trouble talking. "J-j-just bring what I need when I come up and don't leave a-anything behind. W-what are you looking for?"

"Blanket—anything to keep you warm," Kagerou replied minimally as he stopped his search long enough to start taking Kate's gloves, skates and coat off of her.

"Ch- chest in attic, maybe, i- if you c- can get in" Kate suggested.

Kagerou quickly climbed the ladder and, with a loud creak and snapping of wood, he forced the loft door up and climbed the rest of the way up. A few seconds later, he came down from the loft, carrying a single large quilt and set it on the table beside Kate then stepped behind her and started to lift up the bottom hem of her soaked sweater.

"Wh-what are you d-d-d-d-doing?" Kate asked, trying to grab his hand to stop him, but failing as she couldn't get her chilled hand open far enough to do so.

"You have hypothermia," he replied grimly. "Your body temperature is still dropping and dropping fast—

the wet clothes are draining the heat from your body. If we don't get your temperature to stop dropping, you'll die. If there was any other option, I wouldn't be doing this, I assure you, but at this point I have no other choice."

Kate merely nodded as he slid her arms out of the sleeves and lifted the dripping wool from her frame. She gasped and crossed her arms tightly over her chest as he unclasped her bra and slid her arms through the straps. Kagerou wrapped the quilt over her head and around her shoulders, letting her pull it securely over her chest before stepping back in front of her. Helping her to her feet, Kagerou unfastened her trousers and gently started to slip them off, keeping his eyes on her face the whole time. Kate gasped as his warm hands brushed over her hips, sending a brief sensation of pleasure through her otherwise chilled and aching body.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked when she gasped.

"N-no," Kate replied, color rushing into her numb cheeks.

"Well at least you're getting some color back in your cheeks," he said with a hint of a smile. The smile and gentle gaze remained as he slid her underwear off her hips and down her legs, effectively completely undressing her. He carried her over to and laid her on the bed. Grabbing several pieces of fire wood that were stacked next to the fire place he quickly started a fire then went back to the bed and laid down next to Kate and started to unwrap the blanket from around her.

"W-what a-a-are—" Kate managed to get out before Kagerou laid a finger on her lips to silence her.

"Sharing body heat," he explained, pulling her body against his and pulling the quilt tightly around them.

"N-not like th-this in movies," Kate replied feeling even more uncomfortable and trying to deny that a small part of her liked feeling Kagerou's warm armor against her very bare skin, and not just because she felt like a human popsicle in a cryogenics plant.

"I prefer to think that medical websites are probably a little more accurate than movies," he chuckled into her wet hair, "and the websites I saw said that skin to skin contact was the best way to provide warmth—as cold as you are, I take no chances."

"L-lucky I love y-you so much or I w-would have to k-kill you after th-this," Kate teased as her eyelids drifted shut.

"Kate… Kate, wake up," Kagerou whispered urgently, his hand gently resting on her cheek.

"W-whaaaaat…?" she whined, still shivering although not quite as badly.

"You need to stay awake for me," he said gently, "just until your core temperature goes up." He paused, brushing a fingertip over her lips. "Your lips look like they're turning blue."

Kate kissed his finger and grinned. "Aside from the fact that I'm still freezing, I think I'm fine, but maybe you should try to find a way to warm my lips up." She slipped her hands from where they had been nestled between them up around his neck.

"I suppose that would be a good idea," he replied with a wry half-smile before gently kissing her and tightening his arms around her.

Kate let out a slight gasp as he pulled her body more tightly against his. For a second she struggled between feeling uncomfortable or enjoying the feeling of being so close to him. The pleasure quickly won out as she lost herself in the tiny kisses Kagerou brushed against her lips. Only one thing beside the cold and the light kisses pressed into her awareness—the slightly uncomfortable yet intensely arousing pressure churning between her legs as Kagerou's cockpit pressed into her.

"I take it you're enjoying this," Kagerou smirked against her lips.

"What do you mean by that? What's with the smirk?" Kate asked.

"You've never been this turned on when we kiss and you have clothes on," Kagerou replied.

"I hate how you can tell that, why don't you put the scanner away?" Kate groused. "It's your fault besides."

"How is this my fault?" Kagerou questioned. "As I recall, you're the one who had to go skating on a pond instead of the skating rinks in town. And the scanner stays until I'm sure you've fully recovered."

"You're the one with the cockpit that's pressing against me in the most inappropriate and arousing way," Kate scolded. "Why don't we just cut it off?"

"Are you bloody mad?!" Kagerou cried, jerking back in abject horror.

"It wouldn't be that bad, would it?" Kate answered easily. "You said before there's nothing _in there_".

Kagerou hesitated a moment then quietly observed, "I'd advise you to rethink that sentiment."

"What do you mean?" Kate asked.

"Shortly after you got back from Egypt some things started… _changing_, and from what I can tell—especially after this little incident—there's no doubt in my mind anymore: sex is possible, and I assure you, everything works perfectly." His tone was business like, although he seemed slightly uncomfortable.

Kate took a few moments to process Kagerou's admission. "So since it took this for you to be sure everything works, is this driving you as crazy as its driving me?" she asked with a smirk.

"It is," he confirmed. His tone became partially playfully but very serious. "Maybe we should get married—right now."

"Are you serious?" Kate asked her heart starting to race.

Kagerou took her by the chin and searched her dark eyes. "Kate, I love you, and I can't imagine not having you at my side, so I ask you, very humbly… will you marry me?"

A giddy grin touched Kate's face. "Of course," she replied, brushing a light kiss over his lips. "But how are we going to go about this? The normal fluffy white wedding is out of the question."

"This is true," Kagerou conceded, stroking her hair. "I was thinking something a little more… simple."

"Shotgun?" Kate giggled.

"Hardly," Kagerou replied in his "not amused" voice. "Something more like… just the vows, between you, me and God. It will be about as legal as we can get." He didn't need to add that the odds of a normal human marriage between them were very unlikely.

"Short sweet and then on to the fun part—I'm game," Kate teased, rolling her hips against his cockpit and watched his eyes widen.

Kagerou gently took Kate's hands in his and breathed, "Katherine Elizabeth McFerran, I swear to spend the rest of my life loving you, to be there to support and care for you no matter what trouble or hardships life may have in store for us. Through the good and bad, I swear I will be faithful to you for the rest of my life."

Kate couldn't be entirely sure if her shaking was a sudden bout of cold, or her excited nerves as she clutched Kagerou's hands and whispered, "Kagerou, I swear to love you with all of my heart, to support and to care for you throughout whatever life may bring, and to be faithful to you for the rest of my life."

Smiling, Kagerou leaned down and kissed her deeply. Kate slipped her arms out from between their bodies and laid her hands on his cheeks, kissing him in return. For a kiss that technically only lasted for a few moments, it lasted forever.

"So, if you're fully equipped, how do we get it out?" Kate asked, lightly running her chilled fingertips over the top of his cockpit, smiling when a shudder ran through his body.

Kagerou stopped and pulled back to consider her. "This wasn't a good idea," he said softly.

"What are you getting at?" Kate asked incredulously.

"The hypothermia..." Kagerou breathed softly.

"Now you have the perfect way to get some blood pumping—let' get it on," she answered tartly.

"It's affecting your ability to think clearly," Kagerou mumbled. "I should have thought of that sooner."

"It doesn't change the way I feel about you," Kate answered.

"It could affect your willingness to go through with this," He answered. "I want this as badly as you do, Kate, but I wouldn't want you to regret it once your thinking is clear again. I want you to be healthy and clear-minded when we make love for the first time."

"Alright," she begrudgingly agreed as she curled into his arms. "I will give you credit for being so considerate."


	16. Chapter 16

Starting with the next chapter I will be posting two different versions of the story, the tamer shorter version here and the other longer and more R rated version that makes me blush every time I read over it, on my Deviantart account which can be found through the homepage link on my profile.

* * *

_The next morning…_

Kate stirred awake and tried to remember what exactly happened last night. She looked over at Kagerou, who cradled her securely to his chest, when it suddenly dawned on her. Judging by the way the sun shone through the windows, they had slept into the late morning. She looked down slightly and squirmed as she realized how very undressed she was.

"How are you feeling?" Kagerou asked, cutting into her thoughts.

"Better, but still kinda cold," she mumbled, glancing at the nearly extinguished fire before pulling the quilt more tightly around her and snuggling closer to Kagerou, internalizing her mild awkwardness as she pressed closer to his body heat. "Did we really get married last night?"

"You don't regret it, do you?" he asked.

Kate gently pressed a finger to his lips. "Of course not," she answered. "I would have said yes anyway, although I do think you were right about not taking it any farther."

"You think?" Kagerou queried.

"I probably wasn't thinking clearly enough to remember it very well," Kate mused, "but with me not thinking quite clearly, I don't think I was nervous about it at all."

"And now you aren't sure you want to go through with it?" Kagerou asked gently.

"No, it's just a big change," Kate answered, "especially after thinking we'd never be able to have sex. Just give me a couple days to get use to the fact and we'll see where it goes from there."

"Take all the time you need," he said gently, kissing her forehead. "Only when you're ready then we'll take the next step."

Kate smiled at him, "You're the most wonderful husband anyone could ever hope for," she said between kisses. "I'm so glad your mine."

"And you are the most amazing wife anyone could ever hope to find. As much as I would love to just stay here and hold you though, we should go home," Kagerou whispered kissing her once more. "We didn't bring any supplies along for spending the night and it's been snowing for a couple of hours now."

"I suppose you're right," Kate agreed as she reluctantly let go of him, shivering and tightly pulling the quilt around her body as he slipped away from her, cold air quickly taking the place of his warm body.

Kagerou grabbed her socks that were hanging near the fireplace and rejoined her. "There's still enough heat coming off the remnants of the fire that your clothes are still fairly warm," he said softly. "Get dressed and I'll go get the snow cleaned off of the truck and get it started, then we can head home."

"Thank you," Kate replied sincerely, catching his arm and pulling him down for a short kiss before he headed outside.

A little while later Kagerou came back just as Kate was replacing the last sheet over the furniture. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"If I go out in the cold, do I get to spend the rest of the day cuddled up with you and drinking lots of hot chocolate when we get home?" Kate asked as she checked the fire place one last time to make sure the fire was completely out.

"Of course," Kagerou replied, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they headed out into snow.

After getting the truck stuck in a snowdrift and Kagerou having to push the it free, the trip home was uneventful; as Kagerou had promised, they spent the rest of the day cuddled up together under a large pile of blankets.

---

_A few days later…_

In the middle of the afternoon, Kate's mom showed up at the door. After a brief heart attack and swiftly ushering Kagerou into the bedroom, Kate answered the door. "What are you doing here, Mom?" she asked after the typical greetings and hugging her mom.

"I wanted to let you know I'm going to spend Christmas with Daniel," Roslyn explained.

"Great," Kate answered sincerely. "I wish we could all spend Christmas with him."

"So do I," Roslyn replied sadly.

"Does Rachel know?" Kate asked.

"Yes," Roslyn confirmed. "You'll probably be getting a call from her shortly asking if she can come over here for Christmas—unless she decides to spend Christmas with that robot that's always hanging around."

"She does seem to spend an awful lot of time with him," Kate answered darkly.

"Do you think it's true? That it's really sentient?" Roslyn asked.

Kate internalized her emotions. "How do you know he's sentient?" Kate questioned. "She said she couldn't tell anyone else?"

"I showed up to let her know I was going out of town and it was there—helping her make cookies of all things. Did you ever imagine a robot could cook?" Kate held her tongue. "I certainly couldn't."

"Anyway, I asked her what it was doing there. She's been making all these excuses about it being around to help her out after her leg was broken, but she's doing fine now. The robot was the one who finally told me he was sentient when Rachel started to get upset about me wanting the straight answers she wasn't willing to give me."

"And how did it go? Once you found out?" Kate asked. It may have been gratuitous fishing for answers, but it would help if she knew how her mother would react to the news about her and Kagerou now rather than on the spot.

"Stunned to say the least," Roslyn admitted, "but after they explained everything to me and after talking to him for a while, he does seem to be sentient. Do you think that's really possible?"

"From what I've seen of him, he's far too human to simply be a robot with humanoid subroutines for programming," Kate replied. "I've never seen any reason to doubt that he's completely sentient."

"Lovely," Roslyn intoned with a less-than-thrilled expression on her face.

"What is it?" Kate asked.

"Your sister just seems to be… a little _too close _to him, if he's truly sentient," Roslyn replied.

"Are you saying Rachel might be involved with him?" Kate asked, feeling panic churning in the pit of her stomach. Thus far, her mother's reactions did not bode well for her and Kagerou.

"Yes, and it just makes everything too complicated to even think about it," Roslyn replied.

"How so?" Kate pressed.

"If she is involved with him, how am I supposed to react to that?" Roslyn asked seriously. "Should I leave her alone to live her own life and not complain because he's a decent person or should I be trying to discourage her since he's not human?"

Her mind reeling, Kate started to backtrack to work the innocent routine for all it was worth. "I'd say just leave it for now, until you know something for sure," she "casually" suggested. "I'd put a lot of thought into it before making a decision, Mom.

"He's sentient, and that means he probably has a lot of the same hopes and wishes that humans have, including the desire to love and be loved. For all we know, his only real chance at that is to find a human who can love him; if that human happens to be Rachel, and he makes her happy, maybe they're meant to be together. Maybe there was a reason for him being the one who rescued her."

"Alright," Roslyn conceded. "I don't suppose you'll tell me if she says anything about it, will you?"

"The same rules as when we were teenagers apply," Kate politely denied with a grin. "If she tells me not to tell you something and it won't put her in danger, then it stays strictly between us."

"That's what I thought," Roslyn chuckled. "At least I know you'll look after her." She paused, then chuckled darkly. "I still can't believe the school just dropped it after what you did to her second boyfriend."

"He was trying to convince her to have sex with him and when she refused, he said that if she didn't change her mind by their next date, he was going to break up with her," Kate reminded. "I spent several hours that night dealing with her sobbing and convincing her he wasn't worth it."

"At school the next day, you kneed him in the crotch and gave him a black eye," Roslyn observed.

"No, I gave him two black eyes and threatened to castrate him if he ever came near my baby sister ever again," Kate corrected.

"You're still proud of that, aren't you?" Roslyn asked.

"Of course—I'm a big sister," Kate answered. "I have to look out for my siblings. If they didn't have guns and good lawyers, I'd have probably tried to take a few swings at the guys who framed Daniel, too."

"I'm sure you would have..." Roslyn replied softly before changing the subject. "I'll see you after Christmas—Danny's working as a caretaker for a fairly wealthy family and is living in a small cottage on their property so I'll be able to visit for several days. This is the number where you'll be able to reach me—" Roslyn handed Kate a paper with a phone number on it—"and I'll still have my cell phone."

"Okay, see you later," Kate replied, hugging and kissing her mother. "Love you mom."

"Love you, too," Roslyn said before leaving.

---

"I suppose this means I'll be spending Christmas in the bedroom alone," Kagerou said, stepping out of the bedroom after Kate had the front door shut and locked.

"Maybe not," Kate observed.

"Where else am I going to go if your sister is coming over?" Kagerou asked.

"If mom is right about her and that robot she's been cozying up to," she said, "then maybe Rachel would be more willing to accept _us_—and if she knows about you, then she could avoid bring him around. Even if Mom is wrong and Rachel couldn't handle us being together, she'd never tell anyone if I asked her not to. That and I hate not being able to tell my family about you. Rachel may already be willing to accept you if she knew about you, and I think that with a little work, Mom might, too."

"If you're sure she won't tell anyone about me, then I see no to reason not tell her," Kagerou reluctantly agreed.


	17. Chapter 17

Longer version is on Deviantart.

_

* * *

_

_Christmas Eve_

"Are you nervous about introducing me to your sister tomorrow?" Kagerou asked, tightening his arms around Kate as they sat cuddled up on the couch together, listening to Christmas music with all the lights off—excepting, of course, for the Christmas tree.

"Not really" Kate replied, wrapping and rewrapping a strand of hair around her finger. "I'm sure she'll be fine when we tell her."

"Then what are you nervous about?" Kagerou asked.

"What makes you think I'm nervous?" Kate asked, glancing up at his face to make sure he wasn't using his scanner.

Kagerou gently caught her hand, kissing the backs of her fingers. "You only play with your hair like that when you're nervous and have too much time to think about whatever's on your mind."

"Okay, maybe I am a little nervous," she confessed.

"Try thinking of something else, then," Kagerou suggested, nuzzling her hair.

"Then I think… I'll go and get ready for bed—and I still need to bring one of your Christmas presents out," she replied, slipping out of his arms.

"What is it?" Kagerou asked, quirking an eye ridge.

"A crown made of soda cans with rubber around the bottom so you can wear it without absorbing it," Kate teased before ducking into the bedroom.

---

_A few minutes later…_

"Are you ready to open your Christmas present?" Kate asked as she stepped out of the bedroom, holding a red fleece bathrobe closed around her body.

"You're supposed to wait until Christmas Day to open presents," Kagerou reminded.

"True, but in my family it's always been a tradition to open one gift on Christmas Eve." Kate explained. "With Rachel coming over tomorrow, I don't think you'll have time to properlyenjoy your Christmas present if you wait until tomorrow to open it." She stood in front him where he was sitting and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I've had this planned for a while now, and I've barely managed to convince myself to wait as long as I have."

"Why are you so impatient to give it to me?" Kagerou asked.

"It's just as much for me as it is for you," Kate replied smoothly.

"What exactly is it?" Kagerou questioned, raising an eye ridge.

Kate stepped back, whispering, "Me." She let the robe slide off of her and pool around her feet, revealing her nightgown—red silk and small gold bows holding the front together from the top of the low V neckline to just below her waist where there was a single large bow nearly as wide as her hips with the tails hanging halfway to her knees.

Kagerou stared at her for a moment, taking in her nightgown and frame, a slight smile crossing his lips. "Does this mean—"

"We've been married for a week," she purred, nuzzling his neck. "We have unfinished business to attend to."

"Indeed we do," Kagerou purred, pulling her closer and easily sweeping her up into his arms and carried her into the bed room, then laid her gently, onto the mattress. He shifted his weight to kneel over her, leaning down to kiss her as his hands brushed over her arms and shoulders until they came to the shoulder ties, which he promptly untied. He kissed his way down Kate's neck to her shoulders and collarbone while he started to untie the first bow at the neckline of the gown.

"Aren't I just supposed to rip through wrapping paper?" Kagerou whispered into her neck, lightly tugging at the gown's neckline.

"Maybe you are, but you're supposed to untie ribbons and bows," Kate breathed in return, trailing her fingers over his chest and up to his shoulders and pressing her leg softly between Kagerou's legs, putting pressure in all the right places, as she leaned up to kiss him.

The pressure between his legs was all the invitation Kagerou needed. He kissed Kate deeply, running his free hand though her ginger hair and cradling the back of her head for a moment.

As Kagerou's hands continued to untie the gossamer, Kate let her fingers dance along his neck, shoulders, and sides, reveling in the shudders of pleasure it produced in him.

Finally, he untied the last of the bows and pulled the gown away then slowly considered her exposed skin, smiling in approval and maybe more than a little lust. He brushed his fingers over her body, sending chills of pleasure sparking up and down her spine and coaxing a few pleased moans from her throat. Very gently, Kagerou let his hands wander down her sides and finally rested at her waist, his fingers tugging gently but meaningfully at the waistband of her underwear.

The request, unspoken and implied as it was, was something Kate was more than willing to grant. Leaning up to kiss Kagerou deeply, she arched her hips again, allowing him just enough space to slip the underwear off her waist, hips and legs, an action Kagerou turned into a pleasurable, if agonizingly slow, experience. Relishing every moment, and every pleasured sound that Kate made in the process, he almost casually tossed it aside as her feet slipped free from the leg holes. Still grinning deviously, he kissed his way from the top of her foot slowly back up to her mouth.

Kate broke the kiss after several minutes. "Are we just going to lay here kissing all night?" she asked trailing her hand down his chest to the top of his cockpit, smiling when he shuddered as she continued to mover her finger over it.

"We could," Kagerou replied sounding completely serious about the possibility.

"_Ooooorrr… _we could rumple ourselves some bed sheets," Kate answered easily. Kagerou hesitated a moment, the scanner above his right eye peeking at the edge of his helmet before quickly retracting. "You're nervous, aren't you?"

"I am," he replied after a moment of hesitation.

"Would it make you feel better if I said I was, too?" Kate asked gently. "It's going to be fine—this is a natural experience, people have been doing it for thousands of years."

"Humans, yes," Kagerou replied, sitting back on his calves, "but I'm not human. I'm a robot— I may have similar anatomy to a human, but it's not a perfect replica. Most of my body is made of metal and I'm far stronger than a human. What if I hurt you?"

Kate sat up to kneel in front of him, her knees slightly between his and taking his hands in hers. "I'll be fine," she reassured. "We can make this work."

"What if you're wrong and I hurt you?" Kagerou asked.

"I'm not wrong," she replied confidently. "Why would you have suddenly developed sexual organs if you weren't meant to be able to use them?"

"You aren't at all worried or nervous about this?" Kagerou asked.

"Worried, not at all," Kate dismissed. "Nervous, yes. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't be at least a _little_ nervous their first time, no matter how madly in love they are. We'll take it nice and slow, okay?"

"You're really that confident that this will work?" Kagerou said, making it more of a statement than a question.

"Completely," Kate replied smoothly, slipping her hands out of his and running them up his arms, then down over his chest and stomach.


	18. Chapter 18

_The next morning_

Kate groaned when her alarm clock started buzzing at seven and quickly reached over to turn it off. Satisfied with the silence that filled the room, she dropped her head back onto Kagerou's shoulder with her arm resting on his chest.

"Doesn't that mean you need to get up?" Kagerou asked, bringing one hand up to rest over her hand and gently running his other hand over her side down to her hip.

"Ngh, too tired," she mumbled. "Can't we just stay in bed a little longer?"

"Can't imagine _why_ you would be tired," Kagerou quipped.

"It's not my fault it took three tries to get you to stop worrying," Kate replied with a gentle tease.

"Well excuse me for worrying about that," Kagerou replied, a cheeky grin spreading across his features. "Maybe we should try again once your sister leaves—just to reassure me that I won't hurt you."

"Well there's no sense in you worrying all day," Kate teased, straddling his hips and running a finger over his chest and teasing his cockpit. "Maybe I should just reassure you now."

"What about your sister coming and you allegedly being 'too tired' to get up?" Kagerou asked.

"She's not gonna be here for another two hours," Kate reminded. "We have plenty of time—and I said I was too tired to get _out_ of bed." She smirked with satisfaction when the armor of his cockpit retracted and leaned down to kiss him, an action Kagerou was more than willing to mirror.

He slowly started kissing his way down her neck, eliciting moans and contented sighs from her as he went. He grinned deviously before hooking his legs behind her knees and flipping them, gently kissing her as he pushed her legs farther apart; as he stroked the inside of her thighs, he stopped.

"Wh-why'd you stop?" Kate whimpered.

"You're hurt," Kagerou said simply as he ran his fingers over her inner thigh.

"What are you talking about?" Kate asked, propping herself up on her elbows to see what he was looking at.

"Your legs are bruised," he told her.

"Bruised? You stopped because of a _bruise_? And very minor bruising at that?" Kate asked incredulously.

"I still hurt you," Kagerou replied sheepishly.

"Honestly—it's not as bad as I was expecting," Kate dismissed. "Don't worry about it."

"'Not as bad as you were expecting?!'" Kagerou cried. "I was causing you pain and you didn't even bother telling me?" Kagerou asked.

"Ehh, the pleasure fully outweighed the bruising," she easily replied. "That and it doesn't even hurt—you're really overreacting."

"Fine," Kagerou reluctantly agreed. "I may know of a way to avoid that happening again." So saying, he planted a string of light kisses down her throat and chest and back up again.

"So are you going to tell me this idea of yours?" Kate asked between kisses.

Before he could reply, the doorbell rang, "Oh, come on!" Kate groaned as she disentangled herself from Kagerou. "Who would be at my door on Christmas morning?" She got up and put on her bathrobe before turning to Kagerou. "Don't move—I'm going to shoot whoever is at the door."

"If you insist," Kagerou said, languidly stretching himself out on the rumpled bedclothes.

Kate hesitated a moment, letting her eyes trail over his body. For a moment she truly considered just pretending she hadn't heard the doorbell and jumping back into bed with him, until the door bell rang again. Sighing deeply, she reluctantly left the room; the thought of what awaited her once she dealt with whoever was at the door was the only thing keeping her in a chipper mood.

She looked through the peephole in the door, arching an eyebrow when she saw Rachel on the other side of the door. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she opened the door.

"Merry Christmas to you, too," Rachel laughed, hugging her sister and balancing a tray of cookies in one hand.

Kate hugged her sister in return. "I thought you weren't going to be here for almost two hours."

"Well… there's something I need to tell you," Rachel replied, picking at her nails, "and I kind of figured there was no point in delaying the inevitable so I decided to come early."

"Okay—come on in," Kate said, taking the cookies from her sister.

"Thanks, big sister," Rachel said sincerely, stepping inside and kicking off her snow boots.

"What is it you need to tell me?" Kate asked as she headed to the kitchen to set the cookies down.

"Why don't you get dressed first and then I'll tell you, okay?" Rachel suggested.

"Okay—I'll be right back," Kate replied as she stepped out of the kitchen and headed for her room.

"Hey, one question before you go," Rachel called after her.

"Yeah, what?" Kate asked over her shoulder.

"Is your face broken?" Rachel asked.

"What do you mean?" Kate questioned.

"You haven't stopped smiling since you answered the door," Rachel observed. "You didn't sound too thrilled about me being early, and yet you never stopped smiling. Did you take a happy pill before I showed up?"

Kate couldn't keep her smile from widening as she blushed slightly. "I'll tell you once I'm dressed," she said easily. "Just sit down and I'll be right back." So saying, she quickly ducked back into her room.

"Guess we will be waiting until she leaves after all," Kagerou quietly observed once Kate had shut the door.

"I could always just tell her to come back in a couple hours," Kate suggested.

"If we're going to tell her, we should get it over with," he replied. "Are you still sure this is a good idea?"

"Yes," she insisted, starting to get dressed. "I don't like not telling my family about you, especially now that we're married. If anyone will be able to take us being married, it's Rachel—the family freethinker. Even if she _doesn't_, I can trust her to keep a secret."

"And if she reacts well, then she'll be a stepping stone to the rest of your family?" Kagerou asked, hooking her bra for her and kissing the base of her neck.

"My mom and brother, at least," Kate confirmed. Now fully dressed, she hesitated a moment with her hand on the doorknob.

"You're sure about this?" Kagerou asked, taking her free hand in his.

"As sure as I was the last hundred times you asked," she replied. "Hey, if she doesn't have a problem with us being married, I'll have someone to brag to about how amazing you are in bed."

"It takes two," Kagerou replied smoothly.

"Kate, I was hoping to have Christmas sometime before Easter," Rachel called from the living room.

"C-coming!" Kate called back, reaching out for the doorknob. Kagerou reassuringly squeezed her hand and she finally pushed the door open and they stepped out and into the living room.

They froze in the doorframe, and Kate was certain she could feel her heart stop on a dozen dimes. She felt her blood freeze up in her veins, and Kagerou squeezing her hand nearly hard enough to break it. Standing in the living room was Rachel, sure enough… with Shadow Maru at her side.


	19. Chapter 19

Sorry about taking so long to get this up, I kept getting stuck on editing stuff out so I could keep it at a T rating, it's still not going to well, I've taken out some of the more detailed parts, but I'm not sure that I've really gotten it down to a T rating yet. So I need some advice from my readers, after reading this chapter and the next one do you think I should up the rating to M or just put a warning note in the summery and at the beginning of the chapters, since there are only a few chapters that would have the higher rating?

* * *

"What the hell is he doing here?" Kate demanded, pointing an accusatory, if slightly shaking, finger at Shadow Maru.

Rachel's voice and hands trembled as she spoke. "Kate, I can explain—"

"Kagerou," Shadow Maru breathed, looking at his turquoise doppelganger like he had seen the undead.

Kagerou stared back, an expression strikingly similar coloring his face, when he dropped to his knees, his eyes flickering.

"Kage what's wrong?" Kate asked urgently, kneeling next to him. She shot Shadow Maru a look that dripped poison when he knelt in front of Kagerou.

Kagerou lifted his head to look at Shadow Maru, their light green eyes meeting. "Shadow Maru..." he breathed, a smile spreading across his face as he pulled Shadow Maru into a tight hug. "Y-you made it out… you're alive."

"I'm alive?" Shadow Maru parroted as he hugged him back. "What about you? H-how did you escape from that sub?"

"I didn't," Kagerou replied, laying a hand on Shadow Maru's cheek, as if to affirm that the mech before him was real. "In April, Kate found my AI chip in the trench… She brought me home with her."

"But your body… where did it come from?" Shadow Maru asked, tapping his turquoise twin's arm.

"I sort of ended up commandeering a desktop computer and modifying it into a body," Kagerou explained.

"After all these years… you're still alive," Shadow Maru mumbled.

Kagerou's tone grew serious. "You won't tell anyone…?"

"I'm not going to risk losing you again," Shadow Maru vowed.

"Would someone mind explaining what the bloody hell is going on here?" Kate snapped.

"Kate… this is my brother, Shadow Maru," Kagerou told her.

"Brother?" Kate cried.

"Do you want to explain yourself, Shadow Maru?" Rachel snapped.

"It's a long story," Kagerou told Kate, stroking her hair, "but… I think I remember everything now. Seeing him… Everything's coming back now." Kagerou told her.

"E-everything?" Kate asked. If he _truly_ remembered everything, did that include the people that he had killed?

"I believe so," he confirmed. "It's not as bad as you seem to have thought."

"But the paper said—"

"You saw the articles about him?" Shadow Maru questioned. "The one you're thinking of… it's the one from after he held the girl hostage, isn't it?" Kate nodded in reply. "That's what I thought…"

"What do you mean, after I took the girl hostage?" Kagerou asked. "I was captured as soon as I left the building."

"I-it's nothing," Shadow Maru dismissed. "Nothing you need to worry about on Christmas."

Kagerou seized his brother by the shoulders. "Please!" he pleaded. "Please tell me…"

"After Shinjo removed your AI chip from your body," Shadow Maru sighed, "he replaced it with a non-sentient one and sent it on a rampage through the city."

"So in that last article… it wasn't _really_ him?" Kate questioned.

"No," Shadow Maru confirmed. "He may have caused some serious property damage, but he's never hurt anyone."

"So I suppose that leaves just one question..." Kate said, turning to look at Rachel. "Why is Shadow Maru here?"

Rachel looked at her feet, hesitating a moment. "He came with me," she announced, businesslike and detached. "I had to tell someone and if anyone would take it well, it would be you." Shadow Maru moved away from Kagerou and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Are you two are dating? Or is it more serious?" Kate asked with a small, wry smile.

"How did you know?" Rachel questioned.

"The way he's trying to comfort you… Kagerou was doing the same thing right before we stepped out."

"You're dating?" Rachel gasped.

"We were, until about a week ago when we decided to get married," Kate replied.

"You got married and you didn't tell me?" Rachel demanded.

"It wasn't exactly _planned_," Kate said in her own defense. "He just proposed, I said yes and we said a few vows. It's not like you missed a fluffy white wedding or anything."

"I don't care about the darn wedding—you _promised me_ when you were eighteen and I was sixteen that whoever got married first would tell the other what sex was like the next morning—spill it!"

"I can still keep my word," Kate replied easily. "Nothing actually _happened _until last night."

"You got married a few weeks ago, but you didn't have sex until last night?" Rachel cried.

"Like I said—getting married was kind of spur of the moment," Kate defended. "We were planning on getting it done right away, but Kagerou realized it would be better to wait until I was thinking clearly enough to totally comprehend it."

"Were you wasted when he proposed?" Rachel asked.

"Hardly," Kate intoned, explaining how the events of the last few weeks had played out.

"You nearly died and didn't bother telling me that either?" Rachel screeched.

"What was I supposed to do—call you and say I had fallen in the pond, but after spending several hours curled up naked with a robot I was fine?"

"Fair enough," Rachel conceded. "So how was last night?"

"They really aren't going to talk about this, are they?" Shadow Maru asked Kagerou.

"Knowing Kate? Probably," Kagerou replied.

The sisters ignored the brothers. "Let's just say that if Shadow Maru is half as good as Kagerou, you'll have thought you'd died and gone to heaven," Kate told Rachel conspiratorially.

Rachel squeed with excitement as she looked at Shadow Maru. "Maru-chan, when are we going to get married?"

"Uhh…" the amethyst mech droned, looking very much like a deer caught in the headlights.

"In layman's terms, my dear Rachel," Kagerou cut in, "his anatomy probably hasn't fully developed yet so you'll have to be patient." Shadow Maru shot his brother a harsh look. "Oh, don't you give me that look—you know I'm right."

"Yes..." Shadow Maru grumbled.

"See what I mean?" Kagerou replied. "An elder brother is always right."

A few hours later, after presents and a simple Christmas dinner, Kate and Rachel were sitting on the couch drinking hot chocolate and talking when Kate noticed Kagerou and Shadow Maru standing at the other end of the room, with their backs toward them and whispering to each other. "What do you think they're whispering about?" Kate asked as she picked up another Christmas cookie off of the plate on the coffee table.

"I don't know," Rachel replied, sipping her hot chocolate, "but I'll sit here and enjoy the view as long as they stay there. Is it odd that I find a robot's ass sexy?"

"I think Kagerou is the sexiest man I've ever met," Kate answered, waving her half eaten cookie matter-of-factly, "but you've always thought I was crazy, so I may not be the best person to ask."

"Well you have the same frame of reference as I do," Rachel said, thumbing over to the two mechs. "Which one's ass is better looking?"

"I do find Kagerou's incredibly sexy," Kate replied. "Shadow Maru's has those things and it's all bumpy."

"You call it 'bumpy;' I call it an opportunity for exploration of virgin territory," Rachel answered in a mock English accent before biting the head off of a gingerbread man.

"Kagerou's is more visually pleasing to look at," Kate dismissed. "Way more than Shadow Maru's bumpy butt."

Rachel almost choked on her cookie before she managed to swallow and get a few words strung together. "Bumpy butt?" she chuckled.

"How else would you describe it?" Kate questioned. "Kagerou's is as smooth as a pane of glass; Shadow Maru's looks all bumpy."

"… Okay—he's got a bumpy butt," Rachel conceded.

"As usual—I'm right," Kate said seriously.

Just as Rachel was about to reply, Kagerou doubled over laughing. "What's so funny?" Kate called over.

"Nothing," Shadow Maru quickly replied.

"Sure—that's why he's laughing like that," Rachel retorted.

"What's so funny, Kage?" Kate asked again.

Kagerou looked up at Shadow Maru for a moment. "Don't even think about it," Shadow Maru intoned seriously.

"Aww, come on," Rachel coaxed. "It's just us—what could it be that you couldn't trust us with?"

"It's nothing you need to worry about," Shadow Maru quickly dismissed.

Sighing, Rachel turned back to Kate and whispered, "Do you think you can get Kagerou to tell you?"

"If you can keep Shadow Maru distracted, then yes," Kate confirmed.

"Consider it done," Rachel replied, grinning almost evilly as they stood up. She walked over and stood next to, but slightly behind Shadow Maru, and winked at Kate before reaching out and grabbing his ass. The mech gasped, his optics flashing brightly as he turned to gape at her.

As his back was turned, Kate stepped up to Kagerou and wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her frame against his. "What were you laughing about?" she whispered.

Kagerou glanced up at Shadow Maru's back for a second, then grinned at her as he whispered back, "He can't—"

"Don't even think about it…!" Shadow Maru warned, turning back to face him.

Kate raised an eyebrow when she noticed it looked like color was touching Shadow Maru's cheeks. "Are you blushing?" she questioned. "Now you're just making us even more curious."

"Aww come on," Rachel coaxed. "We're practically family—you know you can tell us anything, don't you, Bumpy Butt?"

"_I beg your pardon_?" Shadow Maru cried, glaring at Kagerou when he started laughing at his brother again.

"It's true—you have a really cute, bumpy ass," Rachel replied. "Don't blame me; blame my sister."

"You were checking out my brother's butt?" Kagerou asked, raising an eye ridge at Kate.

"I had to—how else was I supposed to point out how perfect yours is if I didn't have anything with which to compare it?" Kate replied.

"Why would you _need_ to?" Shadow Maru cut in.

"You two were busy talking and we needed something to do," Rachel replied, eating another cookie. "Arguing about who has the better ass seemed like a good way to pass the time. Now are you going to tell us what was so funny or _not_, Maru-chan?"

"That's a terrible way to pass the time, and it wasn't funny," Shadow Maru replied tartly.

"Come _off it_, Shadow Maru," Kagerou laughed. "How embarrassing can not being able to transform be compared to walking around with a nick name like Bumpy Butt?"

"I hate you," Shadow Maru ground out, pointing a finger at his brother.

"What do you mean—I've never seen him have any trouble transforming," Rachel observed.

"Kagerou…" Shadow Maru said threateningly as Kagerou opened his mouth.

Kagerou closed his mouth to grin at him before addressing Rachel: "When was the last time you saw him in dog mode?"

"Wait… So the comment about anatomy earlier, and now about his dog mode," Rachel questioned, a grin shaping her features. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Kagerou nodded. "The way things shift when he transforms to dog mode makes him, for all intents and purposes, biologically accurate—when he transforms to dog mode, that cockpit completely retracts, leaving the new developments completely exposed."

"That's it—you are dead!" Shadow Maru snapped, pulling out a katana.

"You wouldn't attack a mech with no weapons," Kagerou coolly replied. Shadow Maru's only response was to pull out a second katana and toss it to Kagerou.

"You ladies should step back," Kagerou easily told the sisters, who parked themselves on the couch. "No need to worry—I taught him everything he knows."

Shadow Maru smirked at him. "That was over seven years ago—I've learned a few new tricks since then."

"Put your money where your mouth is and show me," Kagerou smirked back.

Over the next hour or so, Kate and Rachel watched Shadow Maru and Kagerou spar with incredible speed and grace, doing amazing maneuvers considering the limited space in Kate's living room. When they finally stopped they stood for a moment hands braced on their knees as they caught their breath.

Kate and Rachel glanced at each other, grinned then started whistling and catcalling. "Come on, Kage! Turn a little more so I can get a better view of that sexy rear of yours!" Kate called.

"You too, Maru-chan—let me see that tight little ass," Rachel chimed in.

Shadow Maru stared at them like they had sprouted second heads with fuzzy purple hair for a moment before looking at Kagerou. "I don't know what went wrong—she's normally quite stable."

"It's being around Kate," Kagerou explained. "When they talk on the phone or if Rachel visits they feed off of each other's insanity. That and they've had enough hot chocolate and cookies to keep them hyper for a week."

At these words, Kate and Rachel started laughing. "It's only funny because it's true!" Kate announced.

"Getting married has made you even crazier than usual," Rachel said as she rolled off the couch from laughter. "I never would have imagined I'd live to see the day my sister sat around openly checking out a guy's ass." The observation led her to a new wave of laughter.

"Maybe we should go," Shadow Maru suggested as he reached down to help Rachel up.

"But I want to see what she does next," Rachel told him as she popped to her feet. "This is way more entertaining than cable."

"It's already dark out," he reminded, pointing out the blackened windows. "And though you may want to see what your sister pulls next, she's already irreparably damaged my brother's sanity—that and he wants us to leave now."

"Wow, that was subtle," Kagerou intoned.

"You said you wanted us to leave; you never said I couldn't explain why," Shadow Maru replied.

"You two are going to get it on again when we leave, aren't you?" Rachel asked her sister.

"Maybe we are, maybe we aren't," Kate replied deviously.

"Just try to keep your pants on until we leave, okay?" Rachel teased as she went into the kitchen for her cookie tray.

After helping Rachel gather her Christmas presents, Rachel and Shadow Maru started to say their goodbyes. "Thank you so for bring my brother back," Shadow Maru whispered sincerely to Kate, clasping her hands. "And thank you for making him so happy."

"You're very welcome," Kate replied just as sincerely. "If I may be honest, it all started out as wonderful accident, and he makes me just as happy as I make him."

Rachel and Shadow Maru hardly had the door shut behind them before Kagerou wrapped his arms around Kate's waist and started kissing the back of her neck. Sighing contently, Kate leaned into his frame and reached up to rest one hand on the back of his neck. Her contentment was short lived when she noticed Rachel's purse sitting at the end of the couch. "She always has to forget something," she groaned as she slipped out of Kagerou's arms. "I'll be right back." She shot Kagerou a cheeky grin before racing out the door with the purse to try to catch Rachel before she pulled out of the driveway.

When she came back in the house several minutes later (Rachel always was the chattiest of the three siblings in the McFerran clan), Kagerou was no longer in the living room. "Where are you hiding, Kage?" she called.

"Bedroom," he called back.

She stepped into the room with a grin, but stopped in the doorway when she saw Kagerou sitting on the end of the bed, his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. "Are you alright?" she asked as she sat next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," he replied, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "It's just… all the memories that came back to me… they didn't really sink in. The whole day I've been going off pure emotion and… adrenaline, I suppose. Now I'm just feeling so overwhelmed and mentally exhausted by it all."

"Is there anything I can do?" Kate gently offered.

"Mind postponing our plans for tonight?" he asked, not making eye contact with her.

"Of course not," Kate replied, turning his face to look at her. "I understand that this has to be incredibly hard on you and whatever you need, I'm here for you. You just have to tell me what I can do to help make it easier on you."

"I just need to know I'm not alone," he whispered, unbuttoning her blouse. "I want to keep you as close to me as possible..." He gently slipped her blouse off of her. "…with nothing to separate us. I—" He paused.

"What?" she whispered, laying a hand on his cheek. "You can tell me."

"I want to be joined with you," he said softly, with all his emotion in his voice. "I've never felt anything as wonderful as that, nothing so… reassuring that this life is worth living, that whatever happens—good or bad—I'll have you with me.

"Body and soul, you and I are one forever; the joining of our bodies is the greatest and strongest reassurance and reminder of that. That's what I need the most right now—to be reminded that I'm not alone, that you'll be with me no matter what."

"You penetrate me, and nothing else?" Kate asked, already intrigued. As she had bragged to Rachel when the brother's weren't listening, sex with him was a wonderful mental and physical experience, but she had noted something: there had been a moment after he had entered her, and just before he pulled out, where they had stayed like that, silently relishing their unity and the knowledge that they belonged to each other. It was those moments that seemed just shy of magical to her.

"Yes," Kagerou replied, a little hesitantly, cutting into her thoughts.

Kate smiled at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Of course," she agreed.

Kagerou relaxed a bit and pulled her into a deep kiss as his hands slid around her back to unhook her bra, slid it off her arms and dropped it to the floor. Kate shifted to kneel on the bed, and he reached around to unhook her skirt. In one motion, he slid the skirt and everything under it down to her knees; Kate slid off the bed and let the clothes drop to the floor and walked around to the side of the bed. Kagerou laid back and let her straddle his hips.

Kate gently ran a finger across his cockpit, which instantly retracted. Smiling at him she carefully shifted her position to let him easily slide into her. She shuddered and arched her back, fighting an innate desire to escalate things as she laid on his chest, kissing him lightly before she laid her head on his chest, enjoying the feeling of being so completely united with him until they both fell asleep.


	20. Chapter 20

This chapter has the last of the sex scenes that I have planned for this story.

* * *

_The next morning…_

Kate woke up, slowly at first, but was swiftly reminded of the unusual yet incredibly pleasant position in which she had fallen asleep. Almost purring with enjoyment, she shifted slightly causing Kagerou to gasp awake. She lifted her head to look at him, slowly slipping her arms up around his neck. "You alright?" she murmured in his audios as she lightly, briefly, shifted her hips into his, making him arch into her.

"I have a stunningly beautiful wife whose first thought upon waking is how quickly she can arouse me—how could I possibly not be alright?" Kagerou growled into her ear before pulling away. "Now get off of me."

"What?" Kate asked incredulously.

"Off please, Kate," Kagerou repeated.

Begrudgingly, Kate slid off of him to spread herself out on the bed space next to him. "As I told you yesterday, I'm not going to risk hurting you again."

"Oh come off it!" Kate protested. "It was just a few minor bruises."

"Exactly—minor enough that a slight difference in the width of my hips should be enough to prevent it from happening again," Kagerou replied as casually as if she had asked about the weather.

"What are you planning?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"You'll see," Kagerou answered, running his fingers through her sleep-mussed hair. He shifted his gaze to the opposite wall, seemingly concentrating on something; a second later, several clicks and a small hiss filled the room, and he flinched slightly.

"Are you okay?" she asked with concern.

"Just disconnecting a few things," Kagerou answered.

"What are you 'disconnecting?'" she demanded. "It looked like it hurt."

"Just my armor," he replied easily. "The pain only lasted a second."

"I thought your armor was directly connected to your circulatory and nervous systems," she said.

"It is," he explained, "but it can be disconnected and reconnected without any problems—the only complication is the pain if the armor is disconnected too fast."

"Then why did you rush?" she asked.

"I didn't want to wait the hour it would have taken for the armor to disconnect itself without the pain," he replied. "And I have a feeling you don't either." His fingers sought out hers and guided them across his waist until her finger came to an almost invisible indentation. "Press there."

Kate slowly obeyed, hearing something click loose. He guided her hand to another invisible indentation, which she pressed as well. After a few more of these indentations, the piece of armor fell off of his hip. Kate gently ran her hand over the smooth metal underneath then up to his waist and back again, marveling in the slight differences in the metal.

The undermetal that was protected by armor was perfectly smooth, and felt softer than the metal on his waist; though smooth, the exposed layer of metal felt harder like the rest of his armor, while the undermetal felt like a cross between the soft covering of his face and the exposed metal. "So does it all come off like this?" Kate asked, running her fingertips over his hip.

"It does," he replied minimally, smiling as she started to run her fingers across the front sections of armor, searching for the next release.

Kate spent the next several minutes running her fingers over Kagerou's waist, finding each of the well-hidden releases; given enough time, she had removed it all, carefully letting it fall in a pile on the floor. With a feather light touch, she trailed her hands down his legs to the armor on his calves and set to work. Once she had dropped the last piece to the floor, she ran her hands once over his lower legs before sliding them up and over his hips to the bottom edge of his chest armor.

"You're deliberately doing this as slowly as possible to drive me mad, aren't you?" Kagerou asked, running his fingers through her hair.

"No, no…" Kate replied flippantly before kissing him briefly. "I'm just taking time to enjoy the details as I go." So saying, she started to remove the armor from his lower arms. Her task completed a few minutes later, she repeated the process with his chest armor before straddling his hips and starting to work at the armor on his sides, back and shoulders.

Ten minutes later, she was pulling the last piece of his armor from his shoulders. Her fingers traced upward, to his helmet. Her fingers searched for the releases, but she couldn't feel any. "Does your helmet come off?" she asked.

"The releases are better concealed on it, but yes," he replied, kissing her neck as his hand guided hers up to the ridges on the sides of his helmet, and in turn to the barely noticeable indentations where the releases were.

Having found the releases, she quickly triggered them and carefully slid the helmet from his head, letting it fall to the floor as she leaned back to study him. "You're even sexier when you're naked," she announced, a devilish grin spreading across her face as she slowly ran her hands up over his chest and shoulders before letting him pull her back into his arms.

Kagerou gently kissed his way down Kate's neck, over her shoulders and back up to her lips, his hands gently brushing over her back to her hips. Kate returned the gesture, lightly kissing the almost flesh-like metal of his cheek and neck and smiling when he moaned and tilted his head back to give her freer access to his neck. She ran her fingers over the back of his neck and head as she continued to kiss his neck for a moment before gently pushing him back.

He was leaning against the headboard now as Kate trailed a string of kisses down his chest, running her hands down his sides. Encouraged by the moans and shudders of pleasure she was eliciting from him, she slid her hands down to his hips; she continued to kiss her way down his waist, smirking against him when he gasped as she gently began to trail kisses along his full length and back up his body, very slowly.

"Amazing," Kagerou breathed as she kissed his audio. "Now it's my turn." So saying, he flipped her onto her back, straddling her waist as he leaned down to kiss her deeply.

Kate smiled back at him as he began to kiss his way down to her neck and over her shoulder then to her chest, spending a few long moments there, before kissing his way over her stomach, hips and legs then slowly worked his way back up to her mouth.

They touched and kissed for several minutes more before Kagerou penetrated her. Their eyes locked for a moment before they kissed deeply and Kagerou began to gently thrust himself deeper into her.

Kate wrapped her arms around Kagerou's shoulders as she arched to meet him as their bodies fell into a steadily increasing rhythm. She moaned, closing her eyes and tipping her head back as Kagerou began to kiss her neck. When he began to move down her chest as far as he could, she finally opened her eyes and noticed that he had his scanner down. It didn't retract into his helmet, as she had previously mused, but directly into his head.

"Wh-what's that—_Ohhh_… What's that for?" she asked, frowning slightly as she struggled to string a sentence together.

"Little experiment, Katie," he replied with a reassuring smile. "Trust me."

As their thrusts reached a fever pitch, they both reached their climaxes within seconds of each other. As a wave of indescribable pleasure washed over her, Kate also felt a warm, slightly sticky fluid filling her, pumping from Kagerou's body into hers.

She collapsed back on the bed, and Kagerou rolled off of her, nuzzling her cheek in the afterglow. Once she had started to catch her breath, Kate asked, "So what was up with the scanner? And what were you pumping into me when you came?"

Kagerou smirked at her as he tapped the scanner with one finger before it slid back up into his forehead. "Do you realize how disturbing that thing looks without your helmet on?" she teased.

"Thank you, Katie," he teased back before answering her original queries. "I was able to monitor your reactions to let me know almost exactly when you would reach climax and with a little effort, prevent my own until it would hit both of us at the same time.

"As for what I released into you, I'm not sure myself. I haven't had time to analyze it, but there's nothing in it that would hurt you. It's probably nothing more than my body trying to simulate human-like reactions to stimuli."

"So… Since this stuff is obviously supposed to be sperm, is it gonna get me pregnant?" Kate asked, trying to disguise her hope with flippancy. Children had come up when they were dating; they both agreed it would be nice to have one or two, but knew it wouldn't be possible. She had accepted it, and made the mental note to toss the idea of adoption around with Kagerou later, but still… Her maternal instincts did want her own child so.

"No," Kagerou replied, dashing the feeble hopes. "No matter how well my body may be able to replicate human anatomy and functions, it couldn't possibly create something of that complexity—or anything that would be compatible with human gametes to conceive with a human."

"Ahh…" she replied before shrugging and leaning over to kiss his cheek. "At least we never have to worry about any 'oops.'"

Kagerou grinned against her lips and kissed her in return before rolling onto his back with Kate curled up at his side, resting her head on his shoulder while gently running her hand over the soft undermetal of his chest. Kagerou gently ran his hand through Kate's hair then down over her side to her hip and back.

A few minutes later, Kate noticed Kagerou's body tense slightly, his hand pausing at her waist before pulling her more tightly against him. Lifting her head she noticed the scanner had slipped back down over his eye. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"…What do you think will happen if anyone finds out I'm still alive?" he asked softly, staring up at the ceiling.

"Do you really think it would cause us that much trouble if anyone found out?" Kate asked.

"It easily could," he mused. "Those who created me were trying to kill me before, and I doubt that time would have changed their sentiments."

"They were trying to kill you?" Kate gasped. "Who was trying to kill you?"

He shook his head sadly. "The people who built me."

"B-but why?" Kate pressed.

"I was a prototype for Shadow Maru," he explained. "I was greatly involved in his construction and modifications, as well as his training. We were both supposed to work with the Brave Police, but once he had been completed it was decided that I should be reformatted and stationed elsewhere."

"Reformatted?" Kate asked.

"They wanted to erase all of my memories," he clarified. "I knew too much, about how we were created and how we worked, for them to risk that information being leaked. They would have erased everything I knew—all my memories, everything that made me who I am. So… I ran away. I tried to convince Shadow Maru to come with me. I was afraid that they would one day do the same thing to him, but he refused.

"It was the hardest thing to do, to leave him behind. We were all the other had—most of those who built us seemed to think of us as nothing more than walking supercomputers. I didn't want to leave him. Yet… at the same time, if I stayed, I would have lost him anyways—damned if I did, damned if I didn't. At least if I ran, I would still have my memories, a chance of seeing him again…

"So you left," Kate gently prompted.

He nodded. "I survived well enough for a while, but the loneliness of living in hiding… it tore me apart inside, Katie. Everywhere I went I was being reminded how alone I was in the world—mocked by machines that could speak, but were no more sentient than a rock. I hated those things with all my heart, and decided to use them as a cry for attention. The only person who would have a chance of catching me was Shadow Maru; I knew if I revealed myself, that our… _creators_—" He said the word with contempt dripping from his voice—"would send him after me.

"I knew he would never force me to return, but if they sent him after me at least we could see each other. At least I would have someone to talk to, even for a short while... I took out my anger on the machines, destroying any I came across; as I had expected, he was sent to apprehend me.

"Everything fell into place just as I had expected it would—I had a few precious minutes to talk to him, to… to reassure myself that he was alright, and he let me go. When we parted ways, everything went… so horribly wrong."

"You don't have to—" Kate started.

"I… I want to, Katie," he said softly. Kate nodded against his shoulder, prompting him to continue: "I was flaying when I was captured—in nets, by men in helicopters, electrocuted until I lost consciousness." He didn't pause at Kate's gasp of abject horror. "At some point, I regained consciousness as my AI chip was being removed from my body and someone was talking about reformatting me.

"The next thing I knew, I was attached to a… some kind of submarine that was filling with water. Shadow Maru was there, too… It took me a moment to fully override the reformatting, but I was able to open an escape pod and convince him to leave. He wanted to take me with him, but I was controlling the sub… if I was detached from the controls, there would have been no one left to open the outer hatch for him to escape.

"Those last few minutes were a nightmare, being stuck there just waiting to die… wishing Shadow Maru was there with me so I wouldn't die alone, worrying that we were to deep for the pod to make it out, but at the same time… I was so glad that he wasn't there and at least had some chance at surviving. I was actually relieved when the sub finally imploded—at least I would finally stop suffering."

"No wonder this was bothering you so much last night," Kate breathed, hugging him gently. "I can't even imagine. Do you think if the people who made you find out you're still alive, that they'll try to reformat you again?"

"I doubt it," Kagerou replied, shaking his head. "Shadow Maru said they know that the man who took me reformatted me, that I got my memory back to save him. He also said it wasn't the first time one of our kind was able to override the reformatting."

"Really?" Kate questioned.

"The leader of their force, Dekkado, was also reformatted, but overcame it to protect a boy with whom he had become friends." Kagerou smiled slightly. "Shadow Maru calls it Overprotective Big Brother Syndrome—he says Dekkado and the boy, Yuuta, are as close as brothers. There have been no more attempts to reformat a sentient robot since; they've given up on it."

"So what do you think they'll do?" she asked.

"If they find out I'm still alive? Destroy me if they still feel I know too much…"

Kate propped herself up on her elbow to look at him. "I won't let that happen, and neither will Shadow Maru," she promised, despite the shaking in her voice. "If they do find out you're still alive, and it looks like they might cause trouble… w-we'll leave the county. In any one of your alternate modes, you could look like a toy or something—sneaking you out wouldn't be that hard."

"What about your family?" Kagerou asked. "I couldn't ask you to leave them."

"It wouldn't be any different than Daniel's situation," Kate replied softly. "I just want you to be safe with me, not destroyed or reformatted into some… mindless drone."

"Hopefully, we'll never have to worry about that," Kagerou whispered with a small smile, running his fingers through her hair.


	21. Chapter 21

-1For the fifth night in a row Kate was woken by Kagerou shifting restlessly in his sleep, a look of fear etched onto his face. He could push the less pleasant memories that he had regained to the back of his mind when he was awake, but they haunted him every night.

"Kage, wake up, it's alright, you're safe." Kate said gently resting a hand on his cheek.

He didn't wake up, but after a few seconds seemed to relax. Sighing Kate dropped back to her pillow, hoping that the nightmares wouldn't return. Those hopes were shattered as Kagerou suddenly screamed, the same fear and pain filled scream that he had let out when he ran into the electric fence, a scream that brought tears to Kate's eyes and left her feeling as if someone were twisting a knife in her heart.

"Kage, Kage wake up." she said desperately as she gently shook his arm.

His eyes finally flickered on and he instantly rolled onto his side, pulling her into a tight embrace, his whole body shaking as he clung to her.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked gently.

"I- I'm fine, I'm sorry I woke you." Kagerou replied gently kissing her forehead.

"Don't, don't you dare start apologizing, you have no control over you're dreams. It was when you were being captured and electrocuted wasn't' it?" Kate asked.

"Yes, how did you know?" Kagerou asked.

"The way you screamed, just like when you ran into the electric fence at the cabin. I swear if I ever meet the man who did that to you I'm going to make him wish he'd never been born." Kate said.

"Tell you what, if we ever get a hold of him I'll hold him down while you beat him up." he told her.

"Forget beating him, I want to electrocute him, not enough to kill him, just enough to make him suffer horribly for a long time." Kate said.

"You can be down right scary when you're angry at someone." Kagerou said.

"After seeing what you're going through because of him, I think he deserves it." Kate replied.

"True, although right now we should probably be trying to get some more sleep instead of coming up with ways to torture him; tomorrow will be a long day." Kagerou reminded her.

Kate grinned, "A long fun day."

"A long crazy day is more like it. After the way you and Rachel were acting on Christmas I'm almost afraid to find out what you'll be like by midnight if you finish even half of all that caffeinated pop and sugary snacks you bought." Kagerou said.

"Crazy is fun. Anyways after having all that caffeine I'll never be able to sleep even after they leave, which means you'll have to find a way to help me burn off some of that extra energy after they leave." Kate said with a mischievous grin as she trailed her hand lightly down his chest.

"Hmm, I guess it might not be too bad." Kagerou said then kissed her passionately for a moment before they finally went back to sleep.

As soon as they woke up the next morning they set to work getting stuff ready for that evening. Kate got snack trays of cheese and crackers, cookies and candy made up.

"You know all this sugar isn't good for you." Kagerou said eyeing the tray of goodies Kate was arranging.

"It's New Years Eve, we don't have to worry about being healthy tonight." Kate replied then turned to face him, "I know just what to do though, how about we eat lots of junk food and get plenty of exercise to make up for it?" she asked.

"Exercise before or after Rachel and Shadow Maru leave?" Kagerou asked wrapping his arms around her.

"Both." Kate replied with a grin, "Rachel always wanted to learn how to dance, I think we should teach her and Shadow Maru some of the dances we learned for the museum's ball."

"Which ones? Should we teach them the lambada?" Kagerou asked.

Kate hesitated for a long moment then shook her head, "No, no absolutely not, I can't teach my innocent baby sister to dance like that." she told him.

"She didn't seem so innocent on Christmas when she was grabbing my brother's ass." Kagerou replied.

"She was just trying to distract him." Kate agued weakly.

"Sure, that's the only reason. I believe that about as much as you look like you do." Kagerou replied.

"Okay, fine, maybe she's not so innocent, but still the thought of my baby sister dancing like that-" Kate trailed off.

"Okay, so we see if you change your mind before the evening is over." Kagerou replied kissing her quickly before grabbing two, two liter bottles of Pepsi and putting them in the fridge.

"Oh no, you're going to try drugging me with caffeine again aren't you?" Kate asked.

"Of course not, I'm just going to make sure you have a good supply ready so you can drug yourself. Now if you'll excuse me I need to make sure we have plenty of room on the video camera." he said as he started to leave the room.

"What do you need the video camera for?" Kate asked.

"Well if we do end up teaching them the lambada I want to get it on tape. I'm sure Shadow Maru will be very stiff, very uncomfortable and quite embarrassed by it and after he get's use to it I want to be able to go back and watch the videos of it with him and make fun of him." Kagerou replied with a smirk, "I have seven years worth of brotherly harassment to catch up on."

"True, younger siblings do need a certain amount a harassing. Do you really think he'd be that uncomfortable with it?" Kate asked.

"Absolutely, he always was more quite and laidback, never the type to do anything crazy. Based on his reactions on Christmas he's gotten worse over the years and is still not quite sure of himself or how to act around Rachel. Either the lambada will make him freak out so much he makes a run for it or he'll freak out, be entertainingly stiff and uncomfortable, then eventually relax and be grateful that we put him through it." Kagerou told her.

"And I'm sure Rachel wouldn't mind if he loosened up a bit. Fine we'll see what happens." Kate relented.

"So what are the plans for the day?" Rachel asked as she and Shadow Maru stepped into Kate's house.

Kate grinned, "Well, I was thinking playing some board and card games, watch a movie, maybe we could sit around and discus the back sides of our ninja bots-"

"Oh that sounds like a splendid idea, I never get tired of admiring Shadow Maru's back side." Rachel said shooting Shadow Maru a mischievous grin.

"I knew getting these two back together wasn't a good idea." Shadow Maru said.

"Just go with the flow and relax, you have got to learn to loosen up and enjoy all the attention you get. Trust me you'll be much happier once you do." Kagerou told him.

"Are you sure I won't just end up getting embarrassed by it?" Shadow Maru asked as he watched Kate and Rachel head in to the kitchen while whispering and giggling with each other.

"Of course I'm sure, trust your big brother, I know what I'm talking about." Kagerou replied patting him on the shoulder.

Several hours and a bottle of Pepsi later Kate asked, "So what should we do next?"

"How about playing truth or dare? I've never played that before and it could be quite interesting and fun with the guys." Rachel said.

"Hmm, you know, that could be fun or really bad, maybe we could dare the guys to strip for us." Kate said as she opened the second bottle of Pepsi and poured Rachel and herself another glass.

"They can't strip, can they?" Rachel asked.

"Oh yes, all that armor comes off." Kate replied then in a mock whisper added, "And the longer you drag out getting it off, the better the sex afterwards"

"I'll have to remember that, Won't I Maru?" Rachel said running her hand over his arm.

"And I need to remember not to let you get sugar and caffeine while hanging out with your sister." Shadow Maru replied.

"It could be worse." Kagerou told him.

"You're wife is giving my girlfriend sex tips right here in front of me, how could it be any worse?" Shadow Maru asked.

"They could be drinking something alcoholic, then who knows how bad they would get." Kagerou replied.

"Okay, good point." Shadow Maru admitted then looked at Rachel, "You said you don't drink at all, right?"

"No, absolutely no alcohol for me, Katie is a perfect angel, never tried anything like that, set a real good example for Daniel and I. Daniel didn't follow her example very well, but I tried alcohol once when I was a teen and hanging out with friends, ended up drunk and with a major hangover. After that I decided anyone who drinks alcohol is crazy and decided my big sister new what she was doing and if she wasn't going to try something like that neither was I." Rachel told him.

"Thank goodness, now I just have to remember to keep you away from caffeine and sugar." Shadow Maru said.

"Good luck with that." Rachel said kissing him on the cheek before grabbing her glass of Pepsi, finishing it off and holding it out to Kate for a refill, "So a little truth or dare?"

"Sure, who wants to go first?" Kate asked.

"Maru will, Won't you?" Rachel said.

"If you insist.." Shadow Maru replied then asked Kate, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." Kate replied.

"What did you think of my brother the first time you met him?" Shadow Maru asked.

"At first I thought the voice coming from my computer was a trick my brother was playing, when I realized it wasn't a trick I thought he was the freakiest thing I'd ever seen and a little scary and I wanted nothing more than to call the police and get him out of here. Although now I'm quite glad he blackmailed me into letting him stay." Kate replied.

"He blackmailed you into letting him stay? How did he do that?" Shadow Maru asked.

Kate hesitated a moment, suddenly unsure of what to say, on one hand Shadow Maru was Kagerou's brother and she was sure she could trust him, but he was also a cop and probably required to report any information on wanted criminals.

"It's alright Kate, he wouldn't tell anyone, if he did he'd have to tell them about me too and I know he wouldn't do that." Kagerou told her.

"I take it this has something to do with your brother?" Shadow Maru asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Kate asked.

"Rachel always changes the subject when he comes up so I did a little research and found out about his record. Like Kagerou said, I wouldn't be able to tell anyone anything you tell me about him without risking exposing Kagerou as well and there's no way I would risk that. Anyways, we're both in the same situation, we both have brothers who everyone else thinks should be locked up even though we know that's not true, so don't worry about it." Shadow Maru told her, "Now on with the game."

"Okay, Rachel, truth or dare?" Kate asked.

"Dare." Rachel replied.

Kate leaned over and whispered something in Rachel's ear. A moment later Rachel got up, walked over to Shadow Maru and pulled his chair away from the table then straddled his lap and lightly ran her hands up his arms, over his shoulders and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Have I told you recently what a hot and sexy bot you are?" she asked seductively before kissing him.

For a second Shadow Maru sat there, looking stiff and uncomfortable, but the longer Rachel kissed him the more he relaxed until he had wrapped his arms around her and was passionately returning the kiss.

"What exactly did you dare her to do?" Kagerou asked.

"I just dared her to do something seductive to him, I didn't specify what." Kate replied, "At least it looks like he's loosening up a bit."

"He certainly is." Kagerou replied.

"Okay, my turn." Rachel said as she finally stopped kissing Shadow Maru and returned to her seat grinning, "Kagerou, truth or dare?"

"Truth." Kagerou replied.

Rachel thought for a while then smirked, "Oh that can't be a good thing." Shadow Maru said.

"Are you going to make love to my sister as soon as Maru and I leave?" Rachel asked.

"I was right, I can't believe you just asked that." Shadow Maru said burring his face in his hand.

Kagerou just grinned, "Oh absolutely." he replied then turned to Shadow Maru, "So little brother what will it be, embarrassment by truth or dare?"

Shadow Maru hesitated a moment then said, "Dare."

"I dare you to try to learn any dance that Rachel wants to learn before midnight." Kagerou said.

"That's it?" Shadow Maru asked sounding relieved.

"Yep." Kagerou replied.

"Okay, who's going to teach us?" Shadow Maru asked.

"Kate and I." Kagerou replied.

"You learned how to dance?" Rachel asked Kate.

"Yep, for the museum ball. You remember I said the museum won the money to get the new sub?" Kate asked.

"How could I not remember, you were practically bouncing off the walls you were so excited." Rachel replied.

"Well Kage and I won the money for the museum in a dance off between Ciara and her robodate and Kage and I." Kate told her.

"You won the money? How could you have left that detail out?" Rachel demanded.

"Quite easily since telling you would have also meant telling you about Kage or trying to convince you I had paid for one of those robodates." Kate replied.

"Okay, good point." Rachel replied, "Now on to the dancing lessons, we only have three hours until midnight."

Kagerou and Kate spent the next two and a half hours teaching Rachel and Shadow Maru how to waltz and quickstep, once they had learned those dances fairly well Rachel asked, "So what dance are you going to teach us next?"

"I don't know, what other dances have you wanted to learn?" Kate asked then gasped as Kagerou suddenly pulled her to him as music started to play, "Didn't I say no lambada?" Kate asked as they danced.

"We agreed we'd see what happened and you look like you don't have a problem with it." Kagerou replied with a grin as Kate ran her hands seductively over his chest.

"I can't help it, you're too sexy to resist." Kate replied as they continued to dance.

When the song ended and they stopped dancing Shadow Maru and Rachel just stared at them for a long moment, "Oh my gosh, who are you and what have you done with my mild mannered big sister who wouldn't be caught dead dancing like that in a million years?" Rachel demanded.

Kate smiled, "It's Kage's fault, he's the one who convinced me to learn that dance and it's entirely too much fun once you get the use to it." she replied.

"Well it does look fun, are you going to teach Maru and I to dance like that?" Rebecca asked.

"I suppose if you insist we could." Kate replied.

"Oh we most definitely do insist, don't we Maru-chan?" Rachel said.

"Well, I- uh." Shadow Maru stammered.

"In other words, yes, he's just too embarrassed to admit it, but once we get him through it I'm sure he'll loosen up a bit, at least it worked with your sister." Kagerou told Rachel.

"Ah, so that's what you did to my sister." Rachel said then turned to wrap her arms around Shadow Maru's neck, "You don't mind learning this dance with me, do you?"

"I guess not, anything to make you happy." Shadow Maru replied still sounding a little hesitant.

"Alright, let's get dancing!" Rachel said giving Shadow Maru a quick kiss on the cheek.

Kagerou had been right, at first Shadow Maru was stiff and looked uncomfortable with the dance, but after a while he relaxed and was dancing just as passionately as Kagerou did.

"See, I told you you'd in joy it." Kagerou said when they finally took a break.

"Alright, yeah, it is fun. I guess you were right." Shadow Maru admitted.

"I'm your big brother, I'm always right." Kagerou replied.

"I think we all enjoyed dancing a little too much." Kate said.

"Why?" Rachel asked.

"Its almost one in the morning. Some New Years party, we totally missed midnight." Kate said.

"Only because we had far more enjoyable things to do than worry about the time." Kagerou said pulling her into his arms and kissing her, "Happy New Year, a little late."

"He's absolutely right, much better things to be thinking about." Shadow Maru said as he pulled Rachel over to him, dipped her back then kissed her, a long passionate kiss.

"This is officially one of the most fun nights of my life." Rachel announced when they finally stopped kissing.

"I couldn't agree more." Shadow Maru said wrapping his arm around Rachel's shoulders.

"We'll have to start getting together once a week or so to give you two more dancing lessons." Kagerou suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea and we still have a lot of catching up to do, so how does Saturday evenings sound to you?" Shadow Maru asked.

"That would be fine." Kagerou agreed and Kate and Rachel nodded in agreement.

"Well then we'll get out of here for tonight, since, unfortunately, because of my darling girlfriend I know you have other things planned for the night." Shadow Maru said.

"That I do." Kagerou replied with a grin as he wrapped his arm around Kate, letting his hand rest low on her hip.


	22. Chapter 22

"Wake up my sexy wonderful husband." Kate whispered as she gently kissed her way across Kagerou's chest then up to his mouth.

After a long kiss Kagerou finally asked, "Why do I need to wake up? The alarm hasn't even gone off yet."

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could do something special for Valentines Day." Kate replied.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Heading up to the cabin for the day, no phones, no one coming to the door, no interruptions, all day long." Kate replied lightly trailing her fingers over his body.

"Hmm, that sounds absolutely heavenly." Kagerou replied, running his hand through her hair then over her bare shoulder, "How quickly do you think we can get up there?"

"I'll get dressed, you grab some food and some blankets just in case. There's supposed to be a blizzard coming through, not until tonight, but better safe than sorry. I can eat breakfast on the way, so I'd say we could be out of here in the next fifteen to twenty minutes." Kate replied.

"Sounds good to me." Kagerou said kissing her quickly before getting out of bed to get everything packed.

Kate pulled up as close as she could to the cabin, "Go ahead and take the stuff in and get a fire going, I'm going to pull the car into the barn so we won't have to clean the snow off before we leave." she told Kagerou.

"Alright, I'll have everything ready to warm you up when you get in there." Kagerou replied kissing her before getting out of the car.

As Kate walked into the cabin and shut the door Kagerou stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her to unzip her coat as he started kissing her neck.

Kate turned to face him and kissed him until he started to try to get her shirt off, "You first." she said stopping him then starting to remove his armor, "The cold won't bother you as much, so I get to undress you first so it has more time to warm up in here." she told him as she very slowly trailed her fingers across his armor to the releases.

A while later Kagerou dropped the last piece of Kate's clothing to the floor next to the bed, "You have no patience when it comes to undressing me, do you?" Kate asked straddling Kagerou's waist and lightly running her hands over his chest.

"Only because you took agonizingly long to get my armor off." Kagerou replied running his hands over her legs and hips.

"Like I told Rachel on New Years, the longer I take to get your armor off the better the sex is." Kate replied leaning down to kiss him.

A moment later the cabin door opened and Rachel and Shadow Maru walked in, Kate let out a startled yelp and quickly wrapped a blanket securely around herself, "What are you two doing here?" she demanded, her face turning brilliant shade of red.

Shadow Maru stood there, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly for a moment before he quickly disappeared out the door, "I thought this would be a nice quite place to spend Valentines Day." Rachel replied, "You know, no phones, no distractions and you did tell me I could come up here anytime I wanted too."

"I also said to let me know if you were coming up here." Kate replied.

"I tried, when you didn't answer your phone I left a message and figured you were too busy with Kagerou to answer the phone. It wouldn't be the first time you haven't answered the phone for that reason over the last couple of month or so." Rachel told her.

"Okay, fine, I guess you didn't really have anyway of knowing we'd be up here." Kate admitted, "Now get out of here so we can get dressed."

"Get out of here long enough for you to get dressed or long enough for you to finish what you were in the middle of and get dressed?" Rachel asked, "Because it's pretty cold outside."

"Long enough to just get dressed, I suppose I won't make you freeze out there." Kate replied.

A few minutes later Kate stepped out on to the porch and told Rachel and Shadow Maru they could come in, "I am so sorry about that, I should have noticed the smoke from the chimney or that there were heat signatures in the cabin." Shadow Maru said.

"Relax, you can't run your scanners all the time and I'm sure you had other things on your mind." Kagerou replied, "Anyways it could have been worse."

"You two were naked in bed together and we just walked in, how could it be any worse?" Shadow Maru asked.

"It could have been warmer out, at least since it's cold we were under a blanket." Kagerou replied.

"Okay, true, it could have been worse." Shadow Maru admitted, "Come help me bring the stuff in that Rachel and I brought."

"Alright." Kagerou replied then followed Shadow Maru outside.

"You're awfully quite." Kate said as she walked over to Rachel who was standing by the window, staring out.

"Oh, I was just enjoying the scenery." Rachel replied with a forced looking smile.

A moment later Shadow Maru and Kagerou brought in a couple of boxes and bags of food, games and blankets, "Do you think you brought enough stuff along?" Kate asked.

"I just wanted to be prepared incase that storm comes through earlier than the weather man said it would." Rachel replied.

"Okay." Kate replied then turned to Kagerou, "Why don't you two go make sure the ice on the pond is thick enough for skating and we'll be right out."

"You've got to be kidding me, after what happened last time you want to go skating again?" Kagerou asked in disbelief.

"As I recall the last time I went skating ended a little coldly, but quite pleasantly. If I fall through the ice again this time we can do more than just cuddle to warm me up." Kate replied kissing him on the cheek and whispering, "Something's up with Rachel, I'd like to talk to her alone."

"Alright, come on Shadow Maru, let's go check the ice." Kagerou said leading Shadow Maru outside.

"So what are you worried about?" Kate asked as soon as she heard them step off of the porch.

"Why would you think anything is wrong?" Rachel asked.

"Because I'm your big sister and I can tell when something is bothering you, now spill it." Kate replied.

"Well- has Kagerou mentioned Maru saying anything about possibly breaking up with me?" Rachel asked.

"Why on earth would you think he was going to break up with you?" Kate asked.

"Well you know how things develop when they fall in love with a human and they said those developments were visible on Maru when he's in dog mode."

"Of course." Kate replied.

"Well, Maru and I had a fight last week and I saw him out a few days ago in dog mode and there were definitely no developments visible." Rachel told her, sounding on the verge of tears.

Kate hugged Rachel, "I doubt that something like that just falls off the second they get in a fight with their girlfriend. I'm sure there's another explanation, he still seems as madly in love with you as he has been every other time I've seen you two together. Come on, we'll ask him about how he was able to be in dog mode." Kate said putting on her coat then dragging Rachel towards the door.

"But Kate, what are you going to do, go out and ask him where his equipment disappeared to?" Rachel asked, looking rather horrified by the thought.

"If that's what it takes to get you to stop worrying, then absolutely." Kate replied as she stepped outside.

"But Kate!"

"Why are you dragging my girlfriend around like that?" Shadow Maru asked as Kate stepped out of the cabin with Rachel struggling to free her wrist from Kate's grasp.

"Well she said she saw you in dog mode the other day and we were just wondering how that's possible, considering what you told us on Christmas?" Kate asked.

"Oh well, umm-" Shadow Maru started.

"What he's trying to say is that once things finish developing they can be retracted in certain modes, dog mode for Shadow Maru and jet mode for both of us." Kagerou explained.

"Aww, too bad, I guess that means if you somehow ever ended up with a full sized body and could take me flying while you're in jet mode I wouldn't be able to play with you're joystick." Kate said with a mischievous grin.

"Kate! You're horrible." Rachel exclaimed.

"What? It works perfectly, the long thing in his cockpit that brings me many hours of joy. Trust me when you're married you'll be just as bad. Anyways, I'm not the one who came up with the names for the parts of planes or the one who designed them and decided where to have their cockpits end up in robot mode." Kate replied grinning, before looking back at Kagerou.

"Actually it's entirely up to us whether those things retract or not, although letting you play with it while I'm trying to fly would probably end up with us crashing." Kagerou replied.

"Aw, I guess that's true, oh well, it could have been fun." Kate replied.

Before Kagerou could reply Shadow Maru cut in, "I thought we were going skating."

"We are, we just had to have some fun making you uncomfortable with all the sex talk first." Kate replied, "Don't worry after you're married it won't seem so bad." she assured him before she and Rachel grabbed their skates and headed over to the pond.

A little while later Kate and Rachel were racing each other across the pond when a snow ball nearly hit Rachel who had been in the lead, "Hey, watch it." Rachel called as Shadow Maru dodged another snow ball where he was hovering over the pond then landed long enough to grab another hand full of snow and tossed it at Kagerou.

"Aren't they cute? Kage had nightmares about some of the stuff he remembered for a while after it all came back, still does occasionally, but I think it's a really good thing that they have each other again." Kate said.

"I know what you mean, even though he wouldn't talk about it I could always tell there was something that Maru wasn't telling me that had really hurt him. After Christmas he admitted that all these years he had blamed himself for Kagerou being taken and dieing and now he doesn't have to deal with that guilt anymore." Rachel replied.

An hour or so later after an all out snowball fight between the four of them, they finally went inside and the girls drank hot chocolate in front of the fire place to warm up.

Kate set her empty mug on the counter and said, "Kage and I are going to go for a walk."

"We are, isn't it a little cold for that?" Kagerou asked.

"Not at all, you can keep me warm." Kate replied.

"Enjoy yourselves and take your time." Rachel told them.

"We will." Kate replied then walked over to Shadow Maru, "Don't do anything stupid while you're here alone with my sister. Because brother in law or not I will cut off that new equipment you have if you try to do anything involving it with my sister before you marry her." Kate told him in a tone that left no doubt that she was completely serious.

"Katie, don't scare him." Rachel said.

"It's alright, I wouldn't dream of doing anything inappropriate, I love and respect Rachel far too much for that." Shadow Maru replied then added, "Not to mention I've heard the stories of what you did to other men who tried to convince her to do something like that and would never risk your wrath."

"Good, we'll be back later, don't worry if we're gone for a while." Kate said putting on her gloves and grabbing a spare blanket from the bed.

"You're going to freeze out there." Rachel said.

"We'll be fine, I know of somewhere a bit warmer that we can go to." Kate replied pulling a flashlight out of one of the cupboards and making sure the batteries were still good.

"Oohh, you're going to the cave, aren't you?" Rachel asked.

"Yep." Kate replied with a grin then took Kagerou's arm as they headed outside.

After a short hike through the woods they came to the entrance to a cave, Kate lead Kagerou down into it until the temperature started to warm up a bit.

"What is this place?" Kagerou asked.

"This," Kate said as she picked up a book of matches and started lighting several candles, "was a place my grandparents liked to sneak off to and according to my mom it's where I was conceived." she finished as she laid out the blanket on top of a pile of old dried grass then turned to wrap her arms around Kagerou's neck, "Now, I believe we were in the middle of something." she said then kissed him.

_Several hours later_

"Where have you two been? It's been snowing hard for over an hour, we should have left a long time ago, it's going to be impossible to drive at this rate." Shadow Maru said as Kate and Kagerou finally walked back into the cabin.

"We were out." Kagerou replied.

"I know that, how could you have not noticed how hard it's been snowing?" Shadow Maru asked.

"I'm a married man and it's Valentines Day, do I really need to answer that?" Kagerou asked with a grin.

"Fine, forget that, let's just get out of here while we still can." Shadow Maru replied.

"It might be too later for that." Rachel said from where she was sitting at the table with a radio, "The snow is coming down too hard for road crews to keep up with it and there's a semi that slid on the ice and ended up on it's side filled with several tons of Pepsi products. They're saying the road will be closed until tomorrow at least and it's on the only highway between here and town with out driving about half an hour in the opposite direction before having to backtrack to get back to town. Maybe we should just stay here tonight, we have plenty of food and the hottest bots in the world to keep us warm." she suggested.

"And between the two of us we brought plenty of blankets, it could be fun." Kate added.

"I can fly us out of here, I've never had any problem flying in snow before, the others would be suspicious if I suddenly said I couldn't now." Shadow Maru told them.

"So you really want to have a slumber party with our siblings?" Kagerou asked Kate.

"I think it would be great, but what about what Shadow Maru said about the others?" Kate asked.

"We really can't take the risk of anyone getting suspicious." Shadow Maru said.

"Oh they won't have anything to be suspicious about." Kagerou said grinning before heading outside.

"What are you up to?" Shadow Maru asked as he and the girls followed Kagerou out to Shadow Maru's larger body and popped the hood open.

"Perfect, they never changed it." Kagerou said a minute later.

"Never changed what?" Shadow Maru asked.

"Well, while they were building you they were also working on the possibility of creating varying sizes of bodies for us, so we could get into different places, but since our main functions need our full sized bodies they started working out the basic plans for being able to just connect to the larger bodies and controlling them without having to move our AI chips." Kagerou explained as he did something, "There was one problem, in order to install the device to allow us to control the larger body, they ended up with some extra wiring and on you it would rub against metal as you transformed, so it would have to be replaced every time you went in for maintenance to ensure it wouldn't get worn through. Apparently they didn't think it was that big of a problem so they never fixed it," he said stepping back and shutting the hood, "so work that wiring over the metal a little extra until it severs the connection and you can no longer control you're larger body and will have to wait here until tomorrow and no one will be suspicious of anything."

"You just broke me?" Shadow Maru asked.

"Basically, yes, but think of all the fun we'll have getting to spend some real quality time together." Kagerou said as they headed back inside.

"And if there's an emergency and we have to get out of here?" Shadow Maru asked.

"Then it's actually quite easy to fix if you know what you're doing, I could have you back in working condition in a minute or less." Kagerou replied.

"You can really break him and then repair him that easily?" Rachel asked.

"Of course, given the right supplies I could easily build a fully functioning AI robot from the AI chip to the outer casing." Kagerou sighed, "That's why they were trying to erase my memory, I knew too much about how we were created."

"Wow, why didn't you ever tell me you knew that much?" Shadow Maru asked, "All I knew you could do was make modifications and alternate transformations."

"I was afraid if I told you anything that I knew about our creation they would try to erase your memory too, so I avoided telling you as much as possible." Kagerou replied.

"So what else did you know?" Shadow Maru asked.

While they talked Kate and Rachel sat down in front of the fire place and Kate handed Rachel a thick paper back book, "What is this?" Rachel asked.

"It's the instruction manual for the new sub that Kage and I won that donation for, there's a whole lot of people who want to be the first to go down in it and be involved in the research that's done with it. So there's going to be a test next week, Dr. Bale will choose one person out of twenty five of the people with the highest scores, from a written test as well as running a simulation sub, to go with him on the maiden voyage in May and then continue to work with him on up coming expeditions. I intend to be the one who get's to go, which means I have to get the best grade on that test." Kate explained.

"Where do you want to start?" Rachel asked.

"Just flip it open to a random page and start asking her questions, she's been putting me through this for weeks now." Kagerou told her.

"How on earth did you convince him to help you with something that involves you being underwater?" Shadow Maru asked.

"Well, he knows he can't convince me not to go, so he wants me to know how to handle any situation. Plus for every question I get right he removes a piece of armor and for every question I get wrong I remove a piece of clothing and once we're both naked we go to do something else." Kate replied with a mischievous grin.

"I suppose in a way it's a good thing, but it keeps taking longer and longer to get her undressed." Kagerou said.

The rest of the day was spent playing games and talking, as well as a few more dance lessons.

By the next afternoon the sky was clear and according to the radio the roads were pretty well cleared.

"You two should get going, I just talked to Dekkado and the Build Team is already on they're way up here with Syunsuke." Shadow Maru told everyone.

"Alright, you'll come visit soon won't you?" Kagerou asked.

"Of course, maybe next time we're all up here again I'll even let you break me again, so we can hang out longer." Shadow Maru replied.

"That sounds like an excellent plan." Kagerou replied then they all said good bye and Kate and Kagerou headed home.


	23. Chapter 23

_April _

"Kage, love, I need to get up and leave." Kate said lightly kissing Kagerou's cheek as she trailed her hand over his chest.

"Couldn't you just call in sick or something and stay home." Kagerou asked, loosening his arm from around her to brush his hand through her hair before kissing her.

"No, especially not today, Dr. Bale and I are taking the new deep sea submersible out for the first time today. You know how hard I worked to be the one that get's to go, you wouldn't want all that hard work to go to waste would ? I can't just not show up." Kate replied.

"You know I hate it when you go down in those things, why can't you just work at the museum and forget about all the under water stuff?" Kagerou asked.

"Because I didn't put years into college and training to be an underwater archeologist, so I could sit in a museum the rest of my life. Don't worry I'll be fine and when I get home we can celebrate, the same way we celebrated when I found out I would get to go." Kate told him with a seductive grin then kissed him once more before slipping out of his arms to get dressed.

"Why don't I help you with that?" Kagerou asked, grinning at her as he got up.

Kate had just finished her breakfast and was setting the dishes in the sink when her stomach turned and she felt as if she might throw up.

"Are you alright?" Kagerou asked coming over to her side.

"I'm fine, just a little nervous about going down in the sub." Kate replied as the feeling passed.

"Are you sure?" Kagerou asked the scanner slipping down over his eye.

"Of course I am, you know I get a little nervous before I go down and more so with it being a new sub. It's nothing to worry about, I felt the same way before I went down in a sub for the first time." Kate replied as she walked back to her room to get her purse and make sure everything she needed was in it before she headed back to the living room with Kagerou following her.

As she sat down to put her shoes on she noticed Kagerou get a confused look on his face, "What is it?" she asked.

"Probably nothing, I think you're moving around just messed up the scan, sit still for a moment." Kagerou told her.

"I told you I'm fine and I'm already running late, for some reason when you help me get dressed it always seems to take twice as long. You can do all the scans you want when I get home, right now I have to get to work. I love you." she said kissing him.

"I love you too." Kagerou replied sounding like he really didn't want to let her leave.

As Kate walked to her car she could see Kagerou standing at the window, no doubt trying to run another scan on her before she left, "_Well hopefully he get's enough to keep him from worrying." _she thought as she got into the car and left.

"Oh it's beautiful." Kate said admiring the brand new sub as they finished removing a tarp that had been placed over it.

"Yes, it's a fine piece of equipment it probably would have taken years to raise the funds to get it if it weren't for you're dancing." Dr. Bale replied, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning, "Are you ready to take her down?" he asked as the sub was lowered into the water.

"Absolutely." Kate replied.

"Good, let's get going then." Dr. Bale said as he climbed into the sub.

"Now, remember piloting this will be a bit different from the last one, a lot more of it is run by computers." Dr. Bale reminded.

"I know." Kate replied feeling a little nervous as the sub began to descend.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine, you got the highest score out of three hundred people from around the world who took the test and tried the simulator to get a chance to come down on the first trip." Dr. Bale told her.

"Really?" Kate asked, "I thought you were just letting me come along because of my dancing."

"Yes, truthfully I was going to insist that you be allowed to come on this first trip down as long as you finished in the top fifty, since you played such a big part in getting the sub, but in the end I didn't have to use that." Dr. Bale told her.

Kate couldn't help smiling when the trench where she had found Kagerou's AI chip came into view, she could hardly believe how much her life had changed in little over a year. Had someone told her then that she would have fallen madly in love and be married within that year she never would have believed it to be possible.

She was suddenly pulled from her thoughts when the engine made an odd grinding noise.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think we should head back to the surface and find out, just to be on the safe side." Dr. Bale replied.

As the sub started to head up the engine made the same sound again and then stopped completely. Dr. Bale tried several times to restart it, but it was no use, "Call the ship, let them know what's going on." he told Kate as he continued to try to start the engine.

"They're calling for help and sending someone to get the other sub, but they said it would be at least an hour until they can get it down here." Kate told him a moment later.

"We don't have that long." Dr. Bale replied gravely.

"Why not?" Kate asked.

"We're sinking, into the trench," he said pointing out the window to the edge of the trench that was just coming into view, "In an hour it'll be too late, even deep sea submersibles have a limit as to how deep they can go before the pressure becomes to great for them to bear. We may have half an hour at the most depending on how fast we're sinking."

Kate swore she felt her heart stop as the color drained from her face, all she could think of was all the suffering Kagerou had already been through, how would he handle losing her too.

Fighting back tears she picked up the radio, "Contact the Brave Police." she told the man on the other end.

"We just arrived ma'am, I'm officer Dekkado, we're trying to find a way to get you out of there." Dekkado replied having tapped into the subs radio frequency.

"Is Shadow Maru with you?" Kate asked.

"Yes." Dekkado replied sounding a little confused by her question when he thought she would have been more concerned with getting out than who was there.

"I need to talk to him, he knows my sister and I'd like him to give her a message if I don't get out of this alive." Kate told him.

"Okay." Dekkado replied.

"Kate?" Shadow Maru asked a few seconds later.

"Yeah, it's me. Can anyone else hear us?" Kate asked.

"No, I've got it set to scramble it so it's just us." Shadow Maru replied.

"If I don't get out of this, tell Kage I love him, tell him not to mourn for me too long, I want him to go on with his life, tell him to do it for me. I don't want him to end up like one of those people who lose someone and then never recover and move on." Kate told him as she fought a losing battle to keep herself from crying.

"Katherine Elizabeth McFerran, don't you _dare _give up on me!" Kagerou suddenly said.

"Kage, how-"

"You're on every major news network and Rachel called me in a tizzy- I am heading to the docks now, I was able to patch into Shadow Maru's radio through our privet channel. We are going to get you out of there." Kagerou told her.

"It's too late Kage, we're too deep, if any of the Brave Police try to get to us they'll be crushed and the other sub couldn't get down here in time to rescue us, we're sinking to fast." Kate told him.

"Kagerou what the hell do you think you're doing?" Shadow Maru suddenly cried.

"I can't let her die." Kagerou replied.

"What's going on?" Kate asked.

"He just grabbed the end of the cable they were going to try to attach to the sub to pull you back up and dove into the water." Shadow Maru told her.

"Kage no! You'll be crushed." Kate said franticly.

"I won't let you die down there." Kagerou replied.

"You'll be crushed before you get deep enough to attach the cable." Kate told him.

"I have to try." Kagerou told her.

"I'd rather know your alive, than have both of us die down here or lose you. I don't think I'm strong enough to survive without you, I'd have no reason to keep going." Kate told him, though she knew it was a waste of time. She had no more chance of convincing him not to risk his life than he would have convincing her not to if their places were reversed and some small part of her took comfort in the thought that they would both die at the same time, at least they would never have to live without the other.

"Kate you have two very good reasons to keep going." Kagerou told her.

"What are you talking about?" she asked her mind instantly going to her family, but that would be three people.

"Kate my scans _weren't _wrong- I got the same results in the scan I did as you were heading to your car. Kate you're pregnant, with twins." Kagerou told her.

"What! But that's impossible." Kate said unable to wrap her mind around any possible way it could be true.

"She's what? Shadow Maru asked at the same time.

"Pregnant, apparently it is possible. Shadow Maru promise me you'll look after my family?" Kagerou said.

"O- of course." Shadow Maru replied in a state of shock.

"You're really sure about this?" Kate asked.

"The first scan could have been a mistake, but to have the exact same mistake pop up twice is highly unlikely, not when I could pick up their heart beats and heat signatures so clearly." Kagerou told her.

"Kage-" Kate couldn't get anymore out before she choked up as tears poured down her face.

"It's going to be alright, if I don't make it the three of you will be just fine, I'm sure it'll be hard at first, but you'll be alright, you're strong, you'll pull through this. You live your life to the fullest, I want you to be happy no matter what, don't cling so tightly to my memory that you won't let your self be happy again. If you find a man who is worthy of you then don't let thoughts of me keep you from marrying again. Promise me you'll do everything you possibly can to have the fullest, happiest life possible." Kagerou told her.

"No, Kage don't, don't say good bye, I need you too much." Kate said.

"Katie please, just promise me, if I don't make it." Kagerou said.

"I- I promise. I love you Kage." she told him.

"I love you too and make sure our children know that I loved them too, that aside from when their beautiful mother became my wife I have never been happier than I was when I found out about them and no mater how short a time I knew about them I loved them with all my heart every second of that time." Kagerou told her.

"I will." Kate assured him struggling desperately not to start sobbing.

"Kate, no mater what happens I will always love you, I may be a robot, but I know I have a soul as real as your's and I will love you forever and I'll be watching over you and our children until we can be together again." Kagerou told her, beginning to sound strained as static began to interfere.

"I'll always love you too." Kate told him before the connection finally went dead. "Kage?" Kate called, tears pouring down her face as she collapsed to her knees.

"I've lost all contact with him, the pressure must have-, I'm sorry." Shadow Maru said barely able to speak.

"It's aright, just let it out." Dr. Bale said moving from where he had been sitting silently listening, to kneel next to Kate, holding her as she cried.

A moment later something hit the top of the sub and they could hear movement then a moment later the sub stopped sinking.

Kate grabbed the radio, "Shadow Maru I think he did it, we've stopped sinking." she told him.

"He must have just barley made it, that was the end of the cable, hold on, their going to start brining you up." Shadow Maru told her.

"Get us up as quickly as possible." Kate said stepping over to one of the portholes where she could see one of Kagerou's hands, hanging lifelessly outside, crushed and mangled from the pressure with a foggy cloud of blood drifting from countless cracks.

* * *

So, anyone want me to update this sooner than next weekend? This is my favorite out of all the stories I've ever written, but the number of reviews I've gotten for it is just sad, 4 reviews for 22 chapters, so if I get at least one review on this chapter I will go a head and post the next chapter right away, if not I'll post it next weekend.

Also if anyone is reading this story, but not reading my other Brave Police story Love and Justice you should read it too, eventually there will be several chapters where you get one person's point of view in one story and another person's point of view in the other.


	24. Chapter 24

YAY! I got a review! And a nice long one even, that just made my day!

* * *

Kate sat, tears silently pouring down her face as she watched Kagerou's hand, desperately hoping for some movement, any sign that Kagerou was still alive, but there were no movements, no signs of life at all outside of the sub.

"Kate, tell me what's going on." Dr. Bale said.

"I can't, I just- not now." she replied, fighting back a sob of despair as she stood with her hand pressed to the porthole.

"You know how long it will take us to get to the surface, you'll go mad before we reach the surface if you just stand there doing nothing but worrying. You're going to talk to me, I don't care what about, but you're going to start talking and stop focusing on what's going on, although I do intend to find out what all that on the radio was about one way or another." Dr. Bale told her.

Hesitating a moment Kate finally asked, "Do you remember that computer chip that we found on my first trip down piloting the sub by myself?"

"The one you were keeping as a souvenir?" Dr. Bale asked.

"Yes, it wasn't a computer chip, it was a highly advanced artificial intelligence chip that had been taken out of a robot and installed into a sub. The sub ended up sinking and then imploding, by some miracle it survived, for the most part undamaged for about seven years." Kate hesitated, for a moment wondering how much she should tell him then decided there wasn't much point in hiding the fact that Kagerou was sentient after everything he had heard over the radio.

"It wasn't a normal AI chip, once I got it home I had set it on top of my computer and the next thing I knew it had melted it's way into my computer and took over it, forming it into a body. It was alive and sentient." Kate said.

"Wait a minute, alive and sentient? A robot that's really alive?" Dr. Bale asked.

"Yes, he was as alive and sentient as you or I, mentally he's basically human. Even his body is completely unique, it's not human, but the metals and fluids that make it up are completely unknown to man. He can feel, see, hear and smell things just like a human can or better, his skin is mostly metal, but if he get's cut or hurt he bleeds just like a human would and they heal just like a human would, maybe a little faster."

"And this thing started out as a robot, a human built robot?" Dr. Bale asked.

"Yes, no one seems to be sure how or why they became sentient or started changing the way they do, it just happened." Kate explained.

"They? There's more than one?" Dr. Bale asked.

"Yes, there's at least a few other sentient ones, but I've only met Shadow Maru Kagerou's brother." Kate replied.

"Brother? How is that possible if they were built by humans?" Dr. Bale asked.

"They were built one shortly after the other, are nearly identical and were rarely apart for the first several months of their lives. They consider themselves to be brothers and they certainly get along like brothers. It was seeing Shadow Maru that finally brought back Kagerou's memory, which had been the only side effect from his AI chip being in the trench for so long." Kate replied.

"So Kagerou is the one you found in the trench?"

"Yes." Kate said.

"And the one who attached the cable to the sub, the one you were talking to on the radio?" Dr. Bale asked.

"Yes." Kate replied.

Dr. Bale sat there silently for a long moment, "You- you're married to a robot and you're pregnant?" he finally asked in disbelief.

Kate hesitated for a second, she had never worried about what anyone would think of her for being married to Kagerou, except for her mother, but then she had never imagined that Dr. Bale would find out. He had quickly become more of a father figure to her than just a fellow researcher after she had started working with him and she wasn't sure if she could handle him disapproving of them with everything else that was happening.

"Yes, and I guess so, his scans have never been wrong before." she finally replied her eyes firmly fixed on the floor, not wanting to see his reaction.

"So this robot got you pregnant?" Dr. Bale asked.

"Yes." Kate replied.

Dr. Bale rested a hand on Kate's shoulder, "and you're scared to death that I'm going to freak out about your relationship with this robot?" he asked.

"Yeah." Kate replied quietly.

"Katherine," Dr. Bale said finally getting her to look up at his face, smiling softly at her he continued, "I don't know that I would have approved of such a thing if I had found out before you found out you're pregnant, but if God has seen fit to bless such a union with children, something that shouldn't be even remotely possible. Well, who am I to say it's wrong when there's a very real miracle to prove that it's meant to be."

"Thank you." Kate said, truly grateful to have one less thing to worry about, though it did little to stop the heart wrenching fear that Kagerou could be laying on top of the sub dead or dieing and it would still be almost an hour until they reached the surface.

When the sub finally reached the surface Kate could see two huge robots lift it out of the water and set it on the boat. After some movement out side, the hatch was opened and they were finally able to climb out.

As soon as Kate was out she noticed Shadow Maru kneeling to one side and could just make out something dark aqua blue laying in front of him. She ran over and gasped in horror at the site. Kagerou's body had been horribly crushed, looking as if some giant hand had wrapped around him and squeezed him as tightly as possible, one optic had been shattered, the scanner that was down over the other one was shattered and his wings were crumpled and pressed into his back, dark reddish brown fluid beginning to pool around his body from hundreds of cracks in his armor.

"Is- is he-" was all Kate could get out before Shadow Maru gently wrapped one large hand around her shoulders.

"I'm still picking up activity in his AI chip, similar to brain activity in an unconscious human. We won't know anything for sure until we get him back to Syunsuke." he told her.

Kate gasped and took a step back towards Kagerou as Super Build Tiger walked towards them.

"It's alright, he's going to take him back to see what can be done for him." Shadow Maru told her.

"I want to go with them." Kate insisted, not fully trusting anyone aside from Shadow Maru after what Kagerou had told her they had tried to do to him.

"I'll take you, we can follow right behind them." J-Decker said holding his hand down for her.

Kate hesitated a second, but then climbed into his hand. He very carefully nearly closed his hand around her then they took off towards down town.

When they got to the Brave Police station Kagerou was taken into a large repair bay. A man in a tan jacket told them to set Kagerou on a large table then began to examine him.

"I can't believe he's alive after all these years." he said.

As soon as J-Decker set Kate down she ran over to Kagerou's side, "Who is this and what is she doing in my repair bay?" the man demanded.

"She's the woman who was on the sub, she insisted on coming." J-Decker told him.

"Would that mean you know something about where he came from? We thought he was dead. By the way I'm Syunsuke." he told her.

"Kate McFerran. I found his AI chip a little over a year ago." she told him carefully watching everything he was doing to Kagerou.

"Over a year ago?" he asked then glanced up behind her, "And I suppose you knew about this?"

Kate glanced over her shoulder to see Shadow Maru standing behind her. "Only since Christmas, Rachel is Kate's sister, it was completely by accident that I found out about him when she decided to introduce me to Kate." Shadow Maru replied.

"So where did he get the body from?" Syunsuke asked.

"My computer, stove and some pop cans." Kate replied.

"What?" Syunsuke asked looking shocked.

"When I found the AI chip I had set it on my computer, somehow he absorbed it to create a body and then the other things to get it to the size it is now." Kate told him then asked, "Is he going to be alright?"

"I won't know until I can get to his AI chip and I can't find the release latch for his helmet, it's different from the way he was originally built." Syunsuke told her.

Kate reached out and carefully pressed the almost invisible release buttons on his helmet, it took a couple of tries before they finally released.

"How on earth did you know where those were? I saw you release them and still can't tell where they are." Syunsuke asked as he carefully started to remove his helmet.

"I've used them enough to know exactly where they are." Kate replied.

"Why would he let you do that, he never liked people getting that close to his AI chip." he said then let out a frustrated sigh when he found nothing but smooth metal under the helmet instead of it being open to the internal workings of his head like it was on the others.

"One because even without the helmet his AI is still protected." Kate replied gently running her fingers across Kagerou's head, "two because I'm his wife, he trusts me." she said as she finally found the release for the piece of metal that covered his AI chip.

"His wife?" several voices said at once.

Kate glanced behind her to see the entire Brave Police force standing in the room behind her. "Yes." she replied.

"This isn't good." Syunsuke said drawing everyone's attention back to Kagerou.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked trying to fight back a wave of panic.

"The AI chip is cracked, the metal around it put too much pressure on it." he told her.

"But he's still alive right? You said there's still brain activity right?" she asked desperately, turning to Shadow Maru.

"Yes, there is. I think he is still somewhat aware of what's going on, the activity changes and increases when ever you speak." Shadow Maru replied.

"But that still leaves us helpless to do anything, there's no way to fix an AI chip, not a sentient one at least." Syunsuke said.

"Could it heal? If he's still alive, then isn't there a chance it could heal on it's own?" Kate asked.

"I honestly don't know, I've never seen an injury like this before, all we can do is wait and see." Syunsuke told her.

"I don't think he likes that idea, brain activity is increasing like he's getting angry or frustrated about something." Shadow Maru told them.

All of a sudden there was a flash of sparks as electricity rippled across the surface of the AI chip.

"What is he doing?" Syunsuke asked.

"I think he wants something and is trying to communicate, but I'm not sure what he wants." Shadow Maru said.

"Oh Kage, I wish we could figure out what you wanted." Kate said gently running her hand over his dented and crushed shoulder.

Suddenly the waves of electricity switched direction, shifting around a few times before retuning to the direction they had been going earlier and forming what looked like an arrow.

Kate leaned in to get a closer look at the end of the AI chip the waves were pointing to and notice a wire that had been pulled loose.

"What's that wire for?" Kate asked, as soon as she did the electricity flickered brightly then stopped.

Syunsuke looked at it for a moment then said, "It's the main connection line from his AI chip to the rest of his body. Unfortunately I can't possibly repair it without removing the AI chip and with it damaged there won't be any energy supply to his AI chip and that could kill him before it can heal."

Kagerou's AI chip flashed with electricity again, "What is it Kage?" Kate asked.

After a moment the electricity began to form shapes and then letters, "C. A. N. S. R. K. What the heck does that mean? It makes no sense and it's using too much energy for him to be communicating like this" Syunsuke said.

"Okay, you said something about him absorbing cans when his body was being regenerated, but what does the R.K. mean?" Shadow Maru asked.

Kate thought for a minute, "Recycle king!" she said excitedly, a short burst of electricity running across Kagerou's AI in response.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Syunsuke asked.

"When his body was being restored I made fun of him for walking around with cans stuck to him and said I was going to call him recycle king and eventually held cans to the top of his head until they were absorbed enough to stay there. I think he's trying to say if we hold the wire in place it'll reattach on it's own." Kate explained, earning another flash from Kagerou's AI.

Kate pulled a chair over next to where Kagerou was laying.

"What are you doing?" Syunsuke asked.

"Getting that wire reattached. Like you said he doesn't like anyone messing with his head and no offence, but I'm not going to let anyone who was involved in trying to kill him years ago do something like this." Kate replied as she sat down then very carefully got a hold of the wire and gently pressed it to the spot it had broken off of.

Over the next half hour everyone left except Shadow Maru and Syunsuke who would come in to check on how things were going every five to ten minutes.

"Can I get anything for you?" a woman asked coming into the room.

"No, thanks, I'm fine." Kate replied.

"You can get her something to drink Hana, preferably juice, something good and healthy." Shadow Maru told the woman.

"I said I was fine." Kate told him.

"You need to keep you're strength up, you know that." he replied his eyes locking with hers for a moment.

Kate fought the urge to bring her free hand up to her stomach and said, "Yeah, I guess he is right, some juice would be good."

"Okay, I'll be right back." Hana said before leaving the room.

"You've got to remember you're caring for more than just yourself now." Shadow Maru told her once Hana had left.

"So he was right, I'm really pregnant?" Kate asked finally letting her hand rest on her stomach as she wondered what the babies would look like.

"Yes, I don't know how it's possible, but there's no doubt about it." Shadow Maru told her.

"What's going to happen now that everyone knows Kage is still alive?" Kate asked.

"I don't really know, but I won't let anyone hurt him, I promise." Shadow Maru told her.

About another half hour later Kate noticed Kagerou's hand flinch and the scanner over his right eye pulled back revealing a thankfully undamaged optic.

"Kage?" Kate said tears filling her eyes.

"I'm okay, don't worry, I'm going to be just fine." Kagerou told her, sounding as if he was having a hard time talking as he brought one crushed hand up to very gently touch her cheek.

Kate took his hand between hers and clung to it, "I thought I was going to lose you." she cried.

"Well I'm going to be just fine, everything will heal, it may take a while and it's actually quite painful, but it will all heal." Kagerou assured her as the metal slid back into place over his AI chip.

"What about your AI chip, it's damaged too." Kate asked.

"I'm pretty sure it'll heal too, I'll just have to be careful until it does." Kagerou told her. "What about you, are you alright?"

"Now that I know you'll be alright I'm fine." Kate told him.

"She's also exhausted and needs to eat something." Shadow Maru said.

"I'm fine." Kate insisted.

"Kate, why don't you go get something to eat, I'm sure there's a cafeteria or a lunch room with at least vending machines in a building this size." Kagerou said.

"I'm not going to leave you." Kate replied.

"You need to keep your strength up, I'll be fine, Shadow Maru isn't going to let anything happen to me while you're gone." Kagerou assured her.

Before Kate could argue Hana stepped into the room, "Dekkado said you wanted me." she said to Shadow Maru.

"Yes, could you please take Kate down to the cafeteria and make sure she gets something healthy to eat?" Shadow Maru asked.

"Of course." Hana replied.

Kate glared at Shadow Maru for a moment as she reluctantly stood up.

"Go on, I'll be fine, you have more important people to worry about than me." Kagerou told her quietly, resting his hand lightly on her stomach.

"Alright, I'll be right back." Kate relented, gently kissing Kagerou's forehead before reluctantly following Hana out of the room.

Kate nervously fiddled with a necklace she was wearing as she silently followed Hana down the halls. She couldn't help worrying about how the people here would react to her being married to Kagerou, let alone the fact that she was pregnant if they found out. She didn't really care about what they would think of her, but was worried that they could cause trouble for them.

As they stepped into an elevator Hana smiled reassuringly at Kate, "If you're worried about how we're going to take you're being married to Kagerou don't." she told her.

"You don't think I'm completely crazy or something?" Kate asked.

"Of course not, of the eight sentient robots working for the Brave Police two are married to human women, three are dating and one is engaged. And I happen to be dating Dekkado, so I can certainly understand your choosing to spend your life with one of them. I also know what I go through any time Dekkado get's hurt, so we'll get you something to eat and then get you back to Kagerou's side as quickly as possible." Hana told her.

"Thank you." Kate said relaxing a little.

* * *

Checkout my Deviantart gallery through the homepage link on my profile to see a family portrait of Kage, Kate and their twins.


	25. Chapter 25

After grabbing something to eat Kate and Hana headed back to the repair bay.

Kate froze as they walked past a room and heard a man saying, "Kagerou's AI chip should be removed and locked away as soon as it has been repaired enough to be moved. He could still be a threat to public safety."

"Kate just ignore him, that's vice commissioner Azma, he's a jerk and has never really liked any of the robots being sentient, don't worry about it." Hana said when she noticed Kate tense up.

"But he hasn't caused any trouble recently and I'm guessing he's been back for a while now. Couldn't we just leave him be as long as he's not causing any trouble?" Dekkado asked.

"He shouldn't even still be functioning, he's lucky I haven't requested that his AI chip simply be destroyed since reformatting seems to have failed." Azma replied.

Kate couldn't take any more and stormed into the office which opened on the far side into the main Brave Police office, where the other robots were standing. "How dare you! You tried to kill him and he reacted like any living being would have and fought for his life then nearly died to save Shadow Maru. Now by some miracle he's still alive, after being reformatted, blown up, drowned and crushed and you want to lock him up for simply being alive! He's been back for over a year, if he were any danger to anyone don't you think you would have known he was back a long time ago? All he wants is to be allowed to live his life in peace, why can't you just leave him alone?" she demanded angrily.

"Because he belongs to us and we can do whatever we like with him." Azma replied.

"He is a living sentient being and he doesn't belong to anyone." Kate told him.

"He is a highly advance piece of machinery, perhaps we will simply have his AI chip destroyed, it would save any chance of future trouble." he said.

Kate had nearly died, nearly lost her husband and now this man was threatening to kill him. She let out a low growl as she reached the end of her stress limit, and slugged him hard in the face, causing him to stumble backwards several feet before falling to the ground and from the looks of it she had broken his nose, "You are not going to kill him, you are not going to lock him up or do anything else to him. I'm not going to watch my children grow up without their father because some brainless monster is too blind to see that Kagerou is just as much alive as any human! Anyone wants to hurt him they'll have to go through me first." Kate said.

"Alright! It's about time someone did that." Drill Boy cheered.

Kate turned to face him and smiled a little until she noticed everyone else in the room silently staring at her, all looking rather stunned.

"What do you mean your children growing up without a father if Kagerou get's locked up?" Dumpson finally asked.

Kate mentally kicked herself for what she had said, but saw no way out of it now. "I meant exactly what I said, I'm pregnant with Kagerou's babies." she replied trying to sound more confident and unworried than she was.

"That's impossible, they're just machines, they can't reproduce, certainly not with a human." Azma said standing back up.

Kate spun around to face him and couldn't help smirking when he flinched away from her, "They are not just machines, they are living, sentient beings and apparently they can reproduce with humans. Kagerou said I was pregnant and Shadow Maru said his scans indicate that as well." Kate told him.

"Then obviously they aren't his children." Azma replied.

If looks could kill Azma would have been dead and cremated within seconds, luckily for him he only ended up back on the floor with a large bruise forming around his eye, "How dare you accuse me of being unfaithful to my husband!" Kate exclaimed, her whole body shaking with barely contained rage, "I have never been with any man other than Kage, so if they aren't his children then it would be an even bigger miracle." Kate told him, looking ready to beat him within an inch of his life if he so much as moved a muscle. She flinched slightly when Hana rested her hand on her shoulder then led her to the other side of the desk where she couldn't so easily attack Azma.

"That makes no sense, he's right, they shouldn't be able to reproduce, they're not equipped for it, they don't produce any type of sperm or anything like that." Syunsuke said.

"Kagerou is a lot different from the others, far more advanced, at least in comparison to Shadow Maru. He thinks it's because of his AI chip basically forming his entire body from scratch, advancements and changes that are barely starting to occur in Shadow Maru are fully developed in Kagerou. It's like the blue prints for those changes are there in the AI chip, but show up slowly when it's already in a manmade body, but if it has to form it from scratch it forms the new body with all the changes complete." Kate told him still glaring across the desk as Azma slowly got to his feet then stepped back several more feet.

"So you're saying we could all eventually be able to have kids?" Dumpson asked a hint of hopefulness in his voice.

"I think so, although there's no way of knowing how long it would take." Kate replied.

"Aww, is someone wanting to be a daddy?" Drill Boy asked grinning at Dumpson.

"Can we please get back on subject, we still have a rouge robot to deal with." Azma said.

"No you don't, he's coming home with me and unless for some highly improbable reason he causes any trouble, you will leave him alone." Kate told him, taking a step forward, causing him to take a couple steps away from her.

"She's right, as long as he's not causing any trouble there's no reason for us to bother them." McCrane said.

"And with a wife and children involved, to lock him up and separate them without a better reason than things that happened years ago that in all honesty were in self defense, would be cruel and wrong." Saejima said.

"Not to mention the valuable information we could get from him about what changes to expect in the others, if he would be willing to let us study those changes." Syunsuke added.

"He deserves a second chance, he shouldn't be punished now for what happened years ago, he never hurt anyone and he was only trying to survive. Everyone seems to think I was brave for not trying to stop myself from being reformatted when I was created and perhaps I was, but I believe it would have taken just as much courage to leave his brother and everything he knew and escape, knowing that he would be hunted and forever have to live in hiding. Sometimes it takes just as much courage to fight for your right to live as it does to face death." Dekkado said.

"And I think we'd all be safer if we left him alone. Police work is dangerous enough; I don't want to have to go up against a homicidal pregnant woman. I think she was completely serious when she said we'd have to go through her to get to Kagerou." Yuuta added.

"You'd have to go through me too." Shadow Maru said appearing in the doorway.

"Why aren't you with Kage?" Kate demanded, terrified by the thought of him being left unprotected.

"He's fine, Rachel came to check on you and she's staying with him until I bring you back." Shadow Maru told her.

"You left my husband unable to move, in a building full of people who could try to kill him, with no one to protect him, but my sister?" Kate demanded angrily.

"You're sister with a hand gun and a rather large shotgun that Gun Max uses when he's in his human sized body and permission to shoot anyone who tries to come near him before you or I return." Shadow Maru told her.

"You gave her my guns?" Gun Max asked.

"Yes." Shadow Maru replied.

"She damages them and you're dead." Gun Max told him then turned to Kate, "Long as she knows how to shoot, she'll be just fine."

"Thanks, but I really would like to get back to him anyways." Kate said.

"Go on then, we'll let you know what's decided." Dekkado said, "No matter what's decided, I give you my word I'll do nothing to interfere with Kagerou going back to his life with you." he added.

"That goes for me too." McCrane said, "As long as he's not causing any trouble I won't have any part in splitting up your family."

"That goes for all of us." Dumpson added, while the others nodded their agreement.

"Thank you all." Kate said fighting back grateful tears before she and Shadow Maru left the room.

Once they were out of the room Shadow Maru joined her, "You need to call your mother and let her know you're alright. That's why Rachel is here, apparently your mother was going to come down here to find out where you were and Rachel told her she'd come instead. Although Rachel is afraid if you don't call right away she'll show up here anyways." he told her.

"Great, like I didn't have enough to worry about already." Kate sighed, "I guess I'm going to have to stop putting off telling mom about Kage now." she said resting her hand on her stomach, her mind quickly wandering to thinking about what they would look like, how the pregnancy would go and how she was going to explain being pregnant at work without telling anyone about Kagerou or completely ruining her reputation.

She was pulled from her thoughts as they passed the doorway that lead from the Brave Police station into the regular police station.

"I saw it on the news, I know you have her here, if you don't take me to my daughter now I'll just go find those robots that took her myself and get some answers and if they won't tell me where she is I'll rip them apart and download the information from their memory chips." Roslyn was saying.

"Ma'am I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to let anyone into the Brave Police department without permission from the commissioner." the rather scared sounding receptionist told her.

"It's alright George, you can let her in." Shadow Maru told him.

"What did you do with Kate, why did you take her?" Roslyn demanded as she stepped through the door into the Brave police station.

"I'm right here mom." Kate said.

"Oh Kate!" Roslyn said rushing over to her and hugging her, "are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm- I'm fine mom." Kate said deciding to leave off just how serious things had been and how much stress she was dealing with.

"You don't sound fine, where's your sister? She said she was coming down here." Roslyn asked.

"I was just heading to see her." Kate replied.

"Good, now what's going on, why were you brought here?" Roslyn asked as they headed toward the repair bay.

"Well there's sort of- well there's actually a lot that's happened over the last year that I haven't told you about. I was going to; I was just trying to figure out the best way to go about it." Kate replied, uncertain of where to start.

"I'm sure it's not that bad, what did you do run off and get married without telling me?" Roslyn asked jokingly.

"Well actually- yes, I did." Kate replied hesitantly.

"What? You're serious? You got married and didn't even bother telling me? Why would you do that? Have I even met this man you're married to?" Roslyn asked suddenly very serious and shocked.

"No, you've never met him, until last Christmas shortly after we got married I was the only person who even knew he was alive and we felt that we had to make sure as few people knew about him as possible." Kate told her.

"Christmas? You've been married since Christmas and hadn't bothered to tell me? Please tell me he's not running from the law." Roslyn said.

"Yes, since Christmas, like I said I was planning on telling you I just wanted to find the best way of telling you without freaking you out." Kate reminded, "As for running from the law, sort of, but hopefully not anymore, but he's never hurt anyone, all he did was what he had to do to survive. I don't really know yet what's going to happen now that everyone knows he's still alive, but the entire Brave Police force is willing to back him up and let him go and only the vice commissioner is arguing with just leaving us alone."

"What exactly did he do? And why does it matter what the robots have to say?" Roslyn asked.

Kate hesitated as they reached the door to the repair bay, "He ran away from the police when they wanted to kill him for knowing too much about how the Brave Police were made. As for why the other bots have a say in what happens to him, they're the only ones who have any chance of catching him once he recovers."

"They were going to kill an innocent person, just for knowing too much about the robots?" Roslyn asked sounding horrified.

"Yes, and they didn't consider him a person." Kate told her.

"Why wouldn't they consider him a person?" Roslyn asked.

Kate hesitated a moment, taking a deep calming breath, "He's not human, he's a robot like the Brave Police, I found his AI chip in April last year and he sort of formed a new body out of my computer and he's been living with me ever since, we fell in love and got married about a week before Christmas." she said all in one breath then braced herself, mentally praying that her mom wouldn't freak out too badly.

"You married a robot?" Roslyn asked sounding too stunned to say much else.

"Yes." Kate confirmed.

After a long moment Roslyn asked, "The one that dove into the water after the sub?"

"Yes, how did you-"

"They were live on the news when he showed up and when they brought the sub up. He's still alive? He looked so badly damaged from what I could see on the news." Roslyn asked.

"Barely, but we think he'll be okay, we just don't know how long it'll take him to recover." Kate told her.

"And he knew the pressure could have killed him before he went in after you?"

"I was on the radio with him when he came down, he sounded like he didn't expect to have any chance of surviving, he just had to do everything in his power to make sure I survived." Kate replied, tears filling her eyes at the thought.

Roslyn pulled Kate in to a tight hug, causing her to break down and start crying, "I guess I can't say anything against a man who loves you enough to give his own life to save yours, even if he is a robot."

"Thanks mom." Kate said as she pulled away wiping tears from her face, "You want to meet him, if he's awake?"

"Of course." Roslyn replied.

"Mom what are you doing here?" Rachel asked when they came into the room.

"I couldn't just sit at home and wait, so I thought I'd meet you here." Roslyn replied.

"How are you doing?" Kate asked as she walked over to Kagerou's side and placed her hand over his.

"I'll be fine." Kagerou replied.

"I didn't ask how you'll be, I asked how you are right now, is there anything you need?" Kate asked.

"Okay I'm in more pain than I ever imagined possible. For now all I need is to see you and know that you're safe, it reminds me that no matter how much pain I'm in now it's nothing compared to how much I would have suffered if I'd lost you." he told her.

"So you're the man who married my daughter without me knowing about it?" Roslyn asked walking over to him.

"Mom, be nice." Kate said, "This is Kagerou, Kagerou, my mother Roslyn, she really doesn't bite." Kate assured him.

"I'd probably lose a few teeth if I tried. As for you," Roslyn said turning her attention to Kagerou, "I'm not happy about not knowing my daughter was married, but I'm very grateful for you getting her back to me safe and sound, so I guess I don't have to stuff you into a trash compactor for not letting me know."

"Thank you ma'am, we did plan on telling you, we were just trying to come up with the best way to do it." Kagerou replied.

"That's what Kate told me, it sounds like it was a complicated situation, so as long as I get a full explanation sometime soon it's alright." Roslyn replied then glanced behind her to see Shadow Maru sitting on the ground with Rachel sitting on his shoulder, leaning against his face, "So much for ever having grandkids." she sighed.

"Umm, actually that may not be as unlikely as you think it is." Kate said.

"What do you mean? You're brother is wanted man and unable to settle down, you're married to a robot and it looks like your sister is heading towards the same thing. They're robots surely they aren't capable of reproducing, I didn't even think they were equipped for, well. . ." Roslyn trailed off.

Kate blushed slightly, "They're fully equipped, but until today we assumed it would be imposable for them to have children, but- well apparently you're going to be a grandmother." she told her.

"What?" was the simultaneous cry from both Roslyn and Rachel who shot to her feet and in doing so lost her balance and fell off of Shadow Maru's shoulder. Luckily Shadow Maru caught her then set her on the ground.

"You're really pregnant? That's really possible?" Rachel asked as she ran over to Kate.

"Well I haven't actually had a normal pregnancy test yet, but according to Kage and Shadow Maru I am, and I've never known their scanners to be wrong." Kate replied.

"Oh my gosh, my baby is having a baby." Roslyn said hugging Kate.

Kate grinned, "Actually Kage says he was picking up two heartbeats."

"Twins? Oh my, you'll certainly have your hands full and probably need help and a baby sitter." Roslyn said.

"And you're already volunteering?" Kate asked.

"Absolutely." Roslyn replied, "So how far along do you think you are?"

"I don't know, I thought I just missed my period because of all the stress of the tests and stuff for going down in the sub, not more than a month or two." Kate replied.

"Based on scans I've done of other pregnant women over the years, I'd say almost two months." Shadow Maru said.

"That would be right around Valentine's Day right?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, although still being fairly newlyweds it would be difficult to pin point the exact day." Kagerou replied.

"Well I can tell you without any doubt when it was." Rachel said confidently.

"And how can you do that?" Shadow Maru asked.

"It was Valentine's Day in the cave." Rachel replied.

"You two went to the cave?" Roslyn asked.

"Yeah, we were at the cabin then Rachel and Shadow Maru showed up unexpectedly and we wanted some privacy, so I took Kage to the cave, I never thought it would make it possible for me to get pregnant." Kate replied.

"Okay, will someone please tell me what's so special about this cave?" Shadow Maru asked.

"When my parents bought the cabin the previous owner showed them a cave and said there was an old legend about it. Many centuries ago there was a couple who had tried to have children for years, but the woman had never become pregnant. One day she was in the woods, crying and begging God to give her a child. A dragon heard her crying and asked what was wrong, when the woman told him why she was crying he told her to bring her husband to a nearby cave and make love in it and she would become pregnant. The woman did as the dragon told her and nine months later gave birth to a healthy son."

"According to the previous owner several of her children had been conceived in that cave and according to my parents so was I and so was Kate. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if that's where my grandchildren were conceived." Roslyn told them.

About an hour later after Roslyn and Rachel had left Dekkado and Hana came into the repair bay along with Syunsuke and Saejima.

"It has been decided that Kagerou will be left to live out his life as he sees fit so long as he doesn't cause any trouble." Saejima told them.

"Thank goodness." Kate said.

"And, if he'd like to, once he has recovered, we'd like him to join the Brave Police." Dekkado said.

"You'd really want me working with you after all the trouble I caused you?" Kagerou asked.

"You were only doing what you had to do to survive, I can hardly hold that against you and I'm sure the others feel the same way." Dekkado replied.

"Plus any Brave Police members who are married to human women get paid just the same as the human officers which I'm sure will come in handy with your growing family." Saejima told him, "Not to mention it seems every time a new sentient robot comes into existence it's because we're going to need them and I have a feeling discovering you're still alive means we'll need your help at some point in the near future."

"You really think so?" Kate asked.

"Without a doubt, we have no control over whether or not they become sentient, we can build a hundred AI robots and none of them will be sentient, it only happens when they're needed and it's been years since there have been any new ones." Saejima replied.

"So will you join us?" Dekkado asked.

"I'd be honored to." Kagerou replied


	26. Chapter 26

Merry Christmas everyone!

* * *

Later that evening once Kagerou's AI chip had healed enough for him to be moved he was transported to a better stocked repair warehouse on the edge of town, where the Brave Police were usually taken when they had particularly severe injuries.

It would also be quieter with less people around and had a couple of rooms set up if humans needed to stay there and sleep, so Kate could get some much needed sleep after the long day without having to leave Kagerou.

After they had Kagerou settled in and everyone else had left, leaving only Shadow Maru and Syunsuke who were in other parts of the building Kagerou said, "Thank goodness, are they really all gone?"

"I think so, why?" Kate asked.

"Because I am in excruciating pain," Kagerou told her.

"Okay, after what you've been through that's not surprising, but what does that have to do with everyone else being gone?" Kate asked.

"Because my cockpit imploded, so I have broken glass in places I didn't want to mention while anyone else was around," Kagerou replied.

"Oh my, I hadn't even thought about that," Kate said. The metal around the cockpit had been crushed down in such a way as to keep him decent, but probably not very comfortable especially with broken glass inside.

"I figured you'd been too worried about me being alive and the babies to be thinking much about anything else, but now that I'm in stable condition and we're alone, think you could get that armor off and the glass out?" he asked.

"Of course," Kate replied as she started to carefully remove the armor.

Once she was pretty sure she had gotten all of the glass removed she helped Kagerou get the rest of the painfully crushed armor off. When they were done she laid down next to Kagerou and pulled the covers over them before falling asleep.

Kate woke up several hours later to find Kagerou missing. She quickly got up and started searching for him and found him in another room. He had a sheet wrapped around his waist, but was still otherwise naked, his metallic skin still dented and cracked in places and his wings still badly crumpled. Compared to how he had looked earlier he looked like he was doing better, although he walked with a bit of a limp and occasionally seemed to have trouble using his hands as he welded together what looked like it could be the skeleton of a human sized robot.

"What are you doing? Shouldn't you be resting?" Kate asked.

"I don't know, every time I tried to sleep I kept dreaming about her," Kagerou replied indicating the robot he was building.

"You're replacing me?" Kate asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course not, no one could ever replace you," Kagerou said turning from his work to walk over to her and kiss her, "I just kept having this dream and seeing designs and plans for several new AI robots. After having the same dream for the fifth time I gave up on sleeping and started building her. I can't explain it, but I think this is something I have to do."

"You can really just build another robot like yourself?" Kate asked.

"Yes, well at least I think so, from what I've heard from the others and Syunsuke they've had a difficult time creating new sentient robots, so she may not be sentient, but then again, the way the plans came to me who knows," Kagerou said.

"Are you sure you shouldn't try to get some sleep again?" Kate asked.

"Just a little longer and then I'll try," Kagerou told her.

"Alright, just don't over do it, you still have a lot of recovering to do," Kate told him then kissed him before heading back to bed.

The next thing Kate was aware of was Syunsuke yelling, "Get out here right now, what do you think you're doing in my workshop!"

"What's going on?" Kate asked as she sat up and noticed Shadow Maru standing nearby.

"Kagerou has locked himself in there, is refusing to come out and has changed the code to unlock the door," Shadow Maru told her.

Kate walked over to the door, "Kage, is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is fine, just convince him to give me another minute," Kagerou replied.

"See everything is fine," Kate said.

"Everything is not fine, I want to know what he's doing in there and what this is," Syunsuke said holding up something skin colored.

Kate reached out and touched it then quickly drew her hand back, "It feels like human skin."

"Exactly, I found it back in the area where we mix up the rubber and plastic that's used on the robots, but I've never seen anything like this before," Syunsuke said before turning to bang on the door again.

Before his fist made contact though there was a click as the door unlocked then opened. A young woman, who looked to be in her late teens stepped out wearing nothing more than a sheet that was draped around her.

"Who are you and what were you doing in my workshop?" Syunsuke demanded.

"And what were you doing in there with my husband dressed like that?" Kate asked glancing up at Kagerou as he stepped into the doorway behind the girl.

"I'm Brave Police undercover unit one, Tina," she told them.

After a long moment of stunned silence Syunsuke finally asked, "What?"

"You're the robot Kage was building?" Kate asked then looked at Kagerou, "Why? And how? She looks so human."

"Like I told you last night I don't know, and as for the looking so human part, it was all in the plans in my dream, even how to make the skin look and feel like real human skin," Kagerou replied.

"She's sentient?" Syunsuke asked.

"Yes, I am, it would be rather hard for a regular robot to go undercover and convince anyone they were really human if they weren't sentient, wouldn't it?" Tina asked.

"I guess so, but why would we need a robot to go undercover? We have human officers who do that," Shadow Maru asked.

"Because there are some situations where it would be safer and less mentally scaring for a robot who was designed specifically for that situation. I am sentient, but also have several mental and emotional blocks to prevent situations that would cause humans or even other sentient robots emotional trauma from effecting me, while I will still be able to respond as expected," Tina replied.

"What situation?" Syunsuke asked.

"To infiltrate the human trafficking ring and put an end to it," Tina replied.

"How do you know about that? I didn't think anyone had told Kagerou about the cases we were working on yet," Shadow Maru asked.

"You hadn't, I had no idea about it," Kagerou told him.

"Then how did you program her to know about it?" Syunsuke asked.

"I didn't, the plans in my dream were to leave the AI chip blank, without anything, even basic programming added to it," Kagerou replied.

"You built an AI robot entirely from plans you got from a dream, left the AI chip blank and it ended up being sentient?" Syunsuke asked.

"Pretty much, other than what I already knew about building regular AI robots, yes," Kagerou replied.

"You are either completely insane or a genius," Syunsuke said.

"Probably a little of both, not that it has anything to do with me being sentient. He has a unique combination of the knowledge of how to build an AI robot and a great respect for the sacredness of sex between two people who love and have committed themselves to each other. The other Brave Police members also have that same view of sex and it will make them you're greatest and deadliest weapons against the human traffickers. I'm only the first of several undercover units he will help you build," Tina told them.

"But if you're going undercover in a situation like that then you could be-" Kagerou started to say.

"Don't worry, we will have the ability to knock out the men and implant false memories of what happened, they'll think they got what they paid for, but in reality it will never get very far," Tina told him.

"Women in situations like that are often severely beaten, what happens when you don't bleed and bruise like a human would and they notice?" Shadow Maru asked.

"Within a weeks time the changes all sentient robots go through to some extent will have made my skin a perfect replica of human skin, I will bleed and bruise just like a human would and the metal in my skeleton will be weakened so that if they attempt to break a bone it will break and heal as they would expect it too," Tina explained.

"But to put you in such danger, it doesn't seem right," Kagerou said.

"Does it seem any better that thousands of human women and children have to live through it everyday?"

"No, but-"

"This is why I was allowed to become sentient, everything about us will be tailored specifically for this job. We'll be able to send pictures of the buyers and sellers to you instantly, fingerprints will be recorded any time one of them touches us, and while they're unconscious we have everything built in that we need to take blood samples, analyze the DNA and send you the reports. We may never be able to save all the women and children who suffer through this nightmare, but we will make a difference, saving all we can, while locking up both those who force them into this life and those who knowingly take advantage of them. It's the only way that it can be done without human lives being put in danger and we can do it faster and save more lives," Tina told him.

"You're really sure about all this?" Kagerou asked.

"Yes, God only grants true life to robots that need it and have a purpose to fulfill and this is my purpose. Why else would I have come online with full knowledge of a case you knew nothing about?" Tina asked.

"I guess you're right," Kagerou said although he still didn't sound sure.

"Don't worry, everything will work out for the best," Tina told him, "Now you should go get some more rest and I'll show Syunsuke the blueprints and other information you got written out," she said before heading back into the workshop.

"I guess I've had all the sleep I'll be getting tonight," Syunsuke said before following her.

"I still don't like this," Kagerou said.

"I know, but there's nothing you can do about it tonight or this morning as the case may be," she said, noticing a clock that said it was about four in the morning, "and she's right, you've been through a lot and are still recovering, you should try to get some more sleep," Kate told him as she led him back to bed.


End file.
